1878-S Liberty Head Eagle. AU-58 (PCGS). CAC.Lovely honey-rose surfaces are warmly and originally patinated over nearly complete satin luster. This is a sharply struck coin that is remarkably smooth for a ten-dollar gold eagle that saw actual, however limited commercial use. And it is commercial use that claimed the vast majority of the 26,100 eagles struck in the San Francisco Mint in 1878. This is a scarce issue in all grades, although it is the sign of the challenges facing the advanced collector specializing in the Liberty Head eagle series that the 1878-S is the second most common S-mint ten from the 1870s after the 1879-S. With no contemporary numismatic interest in this issue, it should come as no surprise to read that the 1878-S is a major rarity in Mint State. Only marginally less rare are Choice AUs, the present example representing the finest realistically obtainable for this issue as far as most collectors are concerned.From the Fairmont Collection.
