1889-S Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-64 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ.

A decidedly PQ example with modestly semi-reflective fields supporting softly frosted motifs. The surfaces also exhibit wonderfully original color in vivid golden-apricot. The strike is sharp throughout and the eye appeal is strong. The San Francisco Mint produced 774,700 double eagles during the year 1889, a typically large production figure for the West Coast facility. David W. Akers, writing in 1982, noted that prior to the 1960s, the 1889-S was rare in Mint State and that some major collections of the era such as Roach, Flanagan, Atwater, Baldenhofer, Melish, and many others had to be satisfied with circulated specimens. Beginning on an especially large scale in the 1960s, and to a much greater extent in subsequent years, Uncirculated examples from overseas hoards were imported back into the United States, so that by 2004 when Q. David Bowers penned his Guide Book of Double Eagles, he supplied a high-end Estimate: for Uncirculated examples at 2,500 or more coins. The typical example grades no finer than MS-63, however, and the present near-Gem is scarce from a condition standpoint and poised for inclusion in an advanced gold cabinet.

PCGS# 9012. NGC ID: 26BW.

CAC Stickered Population: 20; 0.

From Heritage's FUN Signature Auction of January 2016, lot 6697.

Estimate: $7400