1869-S Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-61 (PCGS).Pretty rose highlights mingle with dominant medium gold patina on both sides of this wonderfully original example. Well struck for the design type, Libertys portrait and all reverse design elements are boldly to sharply defined. Lustrous, attractive, and worthy of inclusion in an advanced gold cabinet. Double eagle production at the San Francisco Mint in 1869 amounted to 686,750 coins, for a face value of $13,735,000. David W. Akers was able to identify just 12 auction appearances of examples listed as Mint State when he wrote his double eagle reference book in 1982. Later in 2004, when Q. David Bowers penned his <em>Guide Book of Double Eagles</em>, the estimate was about 40 to 50 examples. Population reports give larger numbers but undoubtedly contain many duplicate submissions. The grade of the present example is identical to that of the Gaston DiBello-Gilded Age specimen that most recently appeared in our 2014 sale of the latter collection, where it realized an impressive $15,275.PCGS Population: 48; 16 finer (MS-64 finest).From the Fairmont Collection.
