1886 Liberty Head Double Eagle. AU-55 (PCGS). <p>A superior example of this formidable rarity among Liberty Head double eagles. The surfaces are well composed and attractive with subtle orange-apricot highlights to dominant deep honey-gold color. Much of the mint finish remains, and the striking detail is impressively sharp throughout.</p><p>One of the rarest dates of the series with a tiny mintage of 1,000 pieces for circulation, of which perhaps 40 to 60 survive today, most in much lower grades that offered here. A couple of survivors are Mint State, but very few. The Philadelphia Mint issued double eagles in sparse quantities in the 1880s, while the San Francisco Mint struck quite a number in most of these years. Survival rates are dismal for these with perhaps four to six percent surviving to today, most of course melted during the change of government policy away from a gold backed currency in 1933 where most classic U.S. Mint gold coins were gathered up and melted. This is one of the finest survivors of the key date 1886, a phenomenal absolute and condition rarity fit for a world class collection.</p> From the Fairmont Collection-Hendricks Set.
