Lost amidst all the hoopla at the recent 2020 FUN show and auctions was the sale of one of the most remarkable US gold coins I have seen in a while. This coin was a totally fresh-to-the-market 1872-CC Liberty Head eagle graded MS62 by NGC and offered as Lot 4470 in the Heritage 2020 Winter FUN sale.
Carson City double eagles can be neatly divided into three tiers of rarity. The first tier—or what I like to call the Big Five—consists of the 1871-CC, 1878-CC, 1879-CC, 1885-CC, and the 1891-CC. If we assume that most collectors will never buy an 1870-CC due to its rarity and cost, these five issues are the keys to the set.
