1878-S Liberty Head Eagle. AU-53 (PCGS).
This is a lovely AU to represent a relatively obtainable 1870s San Francisco Mint ten-dollar gold issue. Vivid orange-honey surfaces are near-fully lustrous frosty to modestly semi-reflective finish. The strike is sharp, the eye appeal is strong, and there are only wispy handling marks that hardly distract. Like the Philadelphia Mint, the facility in San Francisco stepped up eagle production in 1878 in anticipation of the government mandate that gold and paper currency would once again be exchangeable at par as of January 1, 1879. (Gold and silver specie had disappeared from circulation in the East and Midwest early in the Civil War.) The mintage for the 1878-S amounted to 26,100 pieces, small in an absolute sense, but sufficiently large to help rank this issue as the second most plentiful S-Mint eagle from the 1870s.
PCGS# 8682. NGC ID: 265L.
From the Fairmont Collection - Mont Blanc Set.
Estimate: $1100
Price realized | 2'200 USD |
Starting price | 1 USD |
Estimate | 1'100 USD |