1856 Liberty Head Double Eagle. AU-58 (PCGS).Rich honey-rose patina blankets both sides and speaks volumes about this coins originality. Suitably lustrous for the grade with a predominantly satin to softly frosted texture, direct viewing angles also reveal modest semi-reflective qualities in the protected areas around many of the devices. Sharply defined in and around the centers with a pleasant appearance for a lightly circulated Type I Liberty Head twenty. The mintage for the 1856 is 329,878 circulation strikes, down nearly 40,000 pieces from the previous years figure. The face value of Philadelphia Mint double eagles struck that year is $6,597,560. The 1856 is considered by many to be a common date, no doubt because of the size of the mintages that occurred in Philadelphia at the beginning of the series. With regard to higher grades nothing could be further from the truth. This date has long been respected by specialists in the denomination as one of the more challenging Philadelphia Mint issues of the 1850s, especially in attractive high grade condition, as here. Of the perhaps 500 to 700 circulated examples extant, most grade VF to EF, this handsome Choice AU among the finest that we have ever offered.PCGS Population: 22; 37 finer (MS-63 finest).From the Fairmont Collection.
