The 1862 is the rarest Philadelphia double eagle struck up through 1881 (not including, obviously, the exceedingly rare 1861 Paquet reverse). For many years it was an obscure issue that I literally had to beg collectors to buy. Today, when nice examples are offered, they cause considerable excitement. I recently offered a nice PCGS EF40 example of this date and within a day of listing on my website, I had six orders for it.   
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BD-4, Rarity-2. Large Date, Large 5.. If I had to pick a “sweet spot” for early half eagles (or maybe even for all early gold) it would have to be the AU58 grade. Early gold that is properly graded in AU58 holders can have really nice eye appeal yet it is priced at an amount that is often significantly less than coins in MS60/MS61 holders. Let’s look at this 1810 half eagle which is a perfect example.   
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The 1861 is, by far. the most common Civil war era Liberty Head double eagle. That said, it isn’t easy to locate a lovely “super slider” like the present example. This piece has the luster and appearance of an MS62 to MS63 but it shows a trace of rub on the high spots of the obverse. A small nick on Liberty’s chin serves as identification.   
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Throughout the history of gold coin production in the United States there have been a number of instances where two different designs were produced simultaneously, or at least within the same year.   
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Sure, every gold coin collector would love to have an unlimited budget. But few do. Is it possible to be an individual of average or slightly above-average means and still be a collector of U.S. gold? I contend that the answer is a resounding “yes” and I’d like to suggest a dozen collecting areas that are priced at $2,500 or less. My basic parameters are that each is undervalued, interesting to collect and they can be found with some patience.

Instead of focusing on specific issues (which, for the collector, can be like finding a needle in a haystack) I’m going to be a bit more general and focus on small groups or subsets of coins. Not every date within this group may be of interest to the collector (or fall within the parameters of affordability that we have established) but enough will qualify to make them worthy of serious consideration.