1869 Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-60 (PCGS).Beautiful honey-rose surfaces are attractively original with superior eye appeal at the basal Mint State grade level. Billowy mint frost blankets both sides, the devices of which are boldly to sharply struck. Government records indicate that 175,130 circulation strike double eagles were produced at the Philadelphia Mint in 1869, amounting to $3,502,600 in face value. Although the Civil War had concluded several years earlier, public confidence in the post-war economy continued to be weak in the East and Midwest, and consequently precious metal coins were hoarded rather than used in day-to-day transactions. Accordingly, it is likely that many double eagles minted in 1869 were used for overseas trade. Unfortunately, few if any high grade examples have turned up in European bank hoards. Q. David Bowers estimated a Mint State population of 15 to 20 different examples when he wrote his <em>Guide Book of Double Eagles</em> in 2004. This estimate suggests that several high grade examples had come to light subsequent to the early 1980s, when David W. Akers wrote that he was able to find only seven auction listings of Uncirculated pieces in a survey of more than 400 major auction sales. Current certified population data further suggests that a few other Mint State coins may have slipped quietly into the market in the years since Bowers writing, yet even so an Uncirculated 1869 double eagle such as this remains a rare and significant find.PCGS Population: 8; 28 finer (MS-65 finest).From the Fairmont Collection.
