A lovely and significant survivor of this low mintage Liberty eagle issue with plenty of satiny mint luster and even, warm medium gold toning. Both sides display bold to sharp definition to virtually all design elements. With a mintage of just 26,153 pieces, the 1845 is one of the key issues among early No Motto Liberty eagles from the Philadelphia Mint. It is similar in rarity to the even lower mintage 1846 and is particularly elusive in grades above EF, as here. Writing in the 1980 volume of his important work on United States gold coinage, David W. Akers stated of the 1845:<em>"This date is just one of the many grossly underrated dates in the Liberty Head Eagle series. It is very rare and difficult to obtain in any condition and, when located, VF or EF is about all one can expect."</em>These sentiments were echoed 28 years later when Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth (2008) wrote:<em>"The 1845 is a great, low-mintage date whose rarity has withstood the test of time...The vast majority of 1845 eagles are in circulated condition, mostly EF or worse, rarely in AU, and almost never in Mint State."</em>With just four Mint State entries representing no more than three different coins on the combined <em>PCGS Population Report</em> and <em>NGC Census</em>, the significance of this AU example can hardly be overstated.,,PCGS# 8592. NGC ID: 262U.,PCGS Population: 13; 11 finer, just one of which is Mint State (MS-62).,
