1864-S自由鹰金币 PCGS AU 53
1864-S Liberty Head Eagle. AU-53 (PCGS). This lovely 1864-S eagle is pleasingly toned in light honey-gold, with blushes of intermingled champagne-pink iridescence. Ample frosty luster remains and the striking detail is sharp aside from softness confined to the obverse stars and the eagles neck on the reverse. Scattered light and moderate size handling marks are typical for a circulated San Francisco Mint gold coin from the mid-19th century. A dull scrape in the field before Libertys chin and a few wispy grazes above the eagle the most useful identifiers to track this important coin in future market appearances.In a series replete with rarities, the 1864-S stands out as one of the most elusive, and also one of the most underrated, Liberty Head eagles. After only the fabled 1875, this is the rarest circulation strike issue of the type.
The San Francisco Mint struck only 2,500 eagles in 1864 at a time when gold coins circulated extensively on the West Coast. This is in sharp contrast to the situation in the East and Midwest, where gold coins had been withdrawn from circulation in late 1861 and continued to be hoarded throughout the Civil War and much of the Reconstruction eras. With no numismatic activity on the West Coast at the time, and no interest in mintmarked United States coinage in general, it is little wonder that not a single Mint State 1864-S has survived to the present day.
Even the single example in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution is a Choice EF. Among those examples in private hands -- only 25 to 30 coins -- at least half grade no finer than Choice VF. Our first offering for this issue in recent years, and a major condition rarity in PCGS-certified AU-53, this is a significant offering for advanced collectors of Liberty Head gold and/or early date San Francisco Mint coinage.