An 1867 $5 gold coin made in San Francisco and forgotten inside a cigar box in a Texas closet has sold at auction for $97,600 (£74,800). The sale price was more than four times the coin’s previous record. The coin, officially known as an 1867-S Liberty Half Eagle, was found during an estate appraisal in Buda, Texas. Appraisers discovered a green milk crate hidden in a bedroom closet. Inside were two shoeboxes and an old cigar box containing the historic coin and other 19th-century currency. According to auction details published by Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, experts from the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) examined the rare gold coin and gave it a Mint State 63 (MS63) grade. This confirmed it as the finest-known surviving example of this coin. It ranked two full grade points above the next best example. The coin was sold at Heritage Auctions’ GACC U.S. Coins Signature event on October 8 and 9, 2026. It broke the previous auction record of $22,800 for the 1867-S coin.
Civil War origins and family inheritance
Family heirs said the coins originally belonged to their great-grandfather, a Union soldier who served during the American Civil War before settling in Columbus, Ohio. The gold coin was passed down through several generations before the family moved it to Texas. It remained stored in the closet for decades. In 1867, the San Francisco Mint produced only 29,000 Liberty Half Eagles. Many entered everyday use across the western frontier during the late 19th century. As a result, very few coins survived in their original mint condition. Experts at Heritage Auctions estimate that fewer than 100 examples of the 1867-S $5 gold coin survive today in any condition. Only two confirmed examples are known to remain in uncirculated Mint State condition.
Bidding competition and rarity recognition
The discovery of the coins in Buda changed the known rankings for the condition of 19th-century American gold coins. Before the October auction, the highest recorded public sale price for an 1867-S Liberty Half Eagle was $22,800. Heritage Auctions set that record in 2021. The coin’s MS63 grade from PCGS attracted strong competition from private collectors and institutional investors, pushing the final price to $97,600. Todd Imhof, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, explained the importance of the Texas discovery to the wider coin-collecting market. “When the finest certified example of a coin with this much historical significance comes to auction, collectors take notice,” Imhof said in an official press statement released by Heritage Auctions. Imhof added that finding an uncirculated 19th-century gold coin from a regional mint hidden in a home closet is extremely rare for today’s appraisers.
Broad auction highlights and market impact
The 1867-S $5 gold coin was part of a major two-day auction that brought in $19.39 million (£14.8 million) from U.S. coins and currency. According to official sales reports released by Heritage Auctions, the top item was a 1792 Half Disme graded MS68 PCGS, which sold for a record $2.928 million (£2.24 million). Other notable gold coin sales alongside the Texas discovery included:
- A 1907 Saint-Gaudens High Relief Double Eagle, Flat Rim, graded MS66 PCGS, which sold for $97,600.
- An 1861-O Liberty Double Eagle, AU53 PCGS CAC, made in New Orleans at the start of the Civil War, which sold for $91,500.
- An 1851 Augustus Humbert Fifty Dollar Gold Piece, AU58 NGC, produced during the California Gold Rush, which sold for $76,250.
After the auction, the newly documented 1867-S half eagle became part of a private coin collection. This ended its 159-year journey from the San Francisco Mint to a bedroom closet in Texas.