Assembling A Year Set of Liberty Head Eagles, Part Two: 1867-1907

In the first part of this article, I discussed the ins and outs of assembling a year set of Liberty Head eagles from 1838 through 1866. In case you've already forgotten the premise, it's that a collector can purchase one example of each year that this denomination/type was produced in order to save money and still be an active participant in this very interesting (and very long-lived) series. Without further ado, let's go to the videotape, Bob...

1867: Only two mints struck eagles this year. Philadelphia is rarer and less expensive than San Francisco. I'd go with a nice 1867-P eagle and might even stretch a bit as it is undervalued.

1868: Neither the Philadelphia or San Francisco eagle of this year is hugely rare or even all that interesting. Either one, in EF45 to AU53, seems like a good purchase. Look for a coin with nice original surfaces.

1869: The 1869-P is a rare, low mintage date that is still not all that expensive. I'd go with a nice example with original surfaces and would even stretch for a high end (AU50 or better) example.

1870: This is a numismatically significant year as the Carson City mint began operations. The 1870-CC would be a great choice for this set but it is rare and expensive. The P and S mint eagles are both scarce and undervalued. It is hard to choose from one or the other!

1871: The 1871-CC is among the more affordable eagles from this mint produced before 1880 so it would be a good choice for this set. The 1871-P has a mintage of only 1,820 and it is very undervalued in all grades.

1872: The only affordable eagle dated 1872 is the San Francisco coin which is fairly common up to AU55. The 1872-P is very rare as is the 1872-CC. I'd probably settle for a nice AU 1872-S.

1873: For gold collectors, this is a banner year with many interesting issues. I love the 1873-P with its mintage of 800 and the 1873-CC is one of the three rarest eagles from this mint. Even the 1873-S is scarce but it is the most available of the three. Still, I'd splurge and go for a nice 1873-P.

1874: Mintages increased this year and the 1874-CC is the most available CC eagle struck before 1880. I'd look for a nice example in EF45 to AU55.

1875: The stopper this year is the 1875-P which has a mintage of just 100 business strikes and fewer than ten survivors. San Francisco didn't make eagles this year so your only realistic option is the 1875-CC which is very scarce but not impossible like the 1875-P.

1876: Another very interesting year with three possible dates available and all scarce. I personally like the 1876 as just 687 business strikes were made. The 1876-S is a sleeper which is far rarer than its mintage of 5,000 would suggest. A nice example of any of the three issues would be a great addition to this year set.

1877: The Philadelphia eagle is very rare (797 struck) while the CC is very scarce. The 1877-S is fairly common but a bit boring. I'd personally look for a nice AU 1877.

1878: Mintages increase beginning with this year as does availability. While the 1878-CC is very rare, the 1878-S is only semi-scarce in AU and the 1878-P is the first date in this set that is actually available in Mint State for less than $10,000+.

1879: For the first time, four mints struck Liberty Head eagles as the New Orleans mint reopened. I personally love the 1879-O, given its very low mintage (1,500 coins) and its numismatic significance. The 1879-CC is very rare also but much more expensive than the 1879-O.

1880: Another four mint year. Nothing struck this year is rare although the CC and O issues are extremely hard to llocate in AU58 and above. I'd select a nice 1880-O or 1880-CC in AU55 to AU58.

1881: Yet another four mint year. The scarcest issue is the 1881-O while the 1881-CC is actually somewhat available in higher grades. I think I'd pursue a nice 1881-CC.

1882: The second to last of the four mint years and another with no real rarities. I would look for a nice 1882-CC or 1882-CC in the middle to upper AU grades.

1883: The last four mint year of the eagle denomination for many years (until 1906) and one with a notable rarity: the 1883-O which had a mintage of only 800 coins. This issue has become quite expensive so it might make sense to look for a nice AU example of the 1883-CC.

1884: The New Orleans mint stopped making gold coins until 1888 so only three mints made eagles this year. The scarcest is the 1884-CC. The 1884-P is a sleeper and I would look for a nice, original MS62.

1885: Only two mints made eagles in 1885. Both are common and not especially interesting.

1886: Same comments as with the 1885. Look for a nice MS62 to MS63 coin.

1887: Ditto. The 1887-P is slightly scarcer and undervalued in MS62 to MS64.

1888: The New Orleans mint restarted production of eagles in 1888 and I'd suggest an 1888-O in MS62. The 1888-P is scarce and undervalued in Uncirculated.

1889: Of the two issues made this year, the 1889-P is the more interesting with a low mintage of only 4,485. It is very rare above MS62.

1890: Carson City resumed production of eagles in 1890 but San Francisco ceased striking this denomination until 1892. I personally like the 1890-CC in the lower Uncirculated grades as a choice for this set.

1891: Only the Philadelphia and Carson City mint made eagles in 1891. The 1891-CC is common in grades up to MS63 and a nice, original example is sure to add some "oomph" to this year set.

1892: After a three year hiatus the New Orleans mint struck eagles again. The 1892-O is available in MS62 for less than $2,500.

1893: As this is the last year that Carson City struck coins, I'd go with an 1890-CC as a ceremonial sign-off to this mint's coins. It is very rare in Uncirculated but available in AU grades.

1894: For the nest two years, there were three mints making eagles. The 1894-S has a mintage of just 25,000 and it is very underrated.

1895: The same is true with the 1895-S. A nice MS61 to MS62 is a hard coin to find and a good value at current levels.

1896: Now we are back to two issues: Philadelphia and San Francisco. The 1896-S is moderately scarce and probably more interesting than the dirt common 1896.

1897: And now we're back to three as the New Orleans mint resumed eagle production. I would go with an MS62 1897-O.

1898: A ho-hum year with two common issues, the 1898-P and the 1898-S.

1899: This year sees three issues with the 1899-O being the scarcest and most interesting. This is the hardest of the late date New Orleans eagles to find. Look for a nice MS62 to MS63 example.

1900: New century, two issues, both kind of nondescript. I'd go with the 1900-S.

1901: The 1901-S is the single most available Liberty Head eagle in higher grades. Buy a beautiful MS65 coin so that your set has at least one Gem coin.

1902: Two choices, both boring.

1903: New Orleans resumed operations this year and a nice MS62 to MS63 would make a good addition to the set.

1904: Two choices this year with the New Orleans being the more interesting. I would opt with a nice MS63.

1905: New Orleans didn't make eagles this year but San Francisco did. The 1905-S is actually a bit of a sleeper.

1906: We are back to a final four issue year as Denver made eagles for the first time in 1906. While the 1906-D is a common coin, I would include a nice Uncirculated piece as it is numismatically significant.

1907: The last year of issue. Three coins are available with the 1907-S being the scarcest. Your choice here, Mr. Eagle.

Do you have questions about assembling a set of Liberty Head eagles? If so please contact Doug Winter by email at dwn@ont.com.

Assembling A Year Set of Liberty Head Eagles: Part One, 1838-1866

For most collectors, assembling a comlete set of Liberty Head eagles is a daunting task, to say the least. There are 184 different issues (including major varieties) struck from 1838 to 1907. While none of these individual coins is impossible to locate, many are rare to very rare and nearly every issue struck prior to 1878 is rare in higher grades and quite expensive. So how can a collector of more average means approach what, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting and overlooked denominations in all of American numismatics. The answer is to assemble a year set of Liberty Head eagles. This set would include one example of each year that this denomination was produced. Instead of being close to two hundred coins in order to finish the set, it is now only 69 coins. Even better, the savings is immense as it eliminates some of the very costly issues like the 1863, 1864-S, 1870-CC and 1875 and lets the collector replace these with interesting but much less costly alternatives.

Let's take a look at each year from 1838 until 1866 in this set (in Part Two, we'll look at the 1867-1907 issues). I'll list what I think is the best issue for each year in this set along with suggested grades.

1838: Only one issue, from Philadelphia, is available. This issue is very popular and significant as the first eagle produced with the new Liberty Head design and it is the first coin of this denomination produced since 1804. I'd splurge on this and buy as nice a coin as you can afford; certainly at least an EF40.

1839: This is another one-mint year but with two types available: Head of 1838 and Head of 1840. The former is far more available and can be obtained in nice EF without great difficulty. This is another issue I'd splurge on as it is a limited type with a novel design.

1840: The last of the three Philadelphia-only issues at the beginning of the set and a significant first-year coin. I've always liked the 1840 eagle and find it to be underrated. I'd buy a nice AU53 to AU58 for this set.

1841: This is the first year in which more than one mint made eagles as the New Orleans facility began production in 1841. The 1841-O is a really neat issue but it is rare and expensive, so I'd probably go with an 1841 Philadelphia. I'd choose a nice original AU55 to AU58 coin.

1842: Beginning this year, the collector can select from Philadelphia and New Orleans issues. In a year like 1842, both are reasonably common although the 1842-O becomes very rare in higher grades. I'd go with the 1842-O in the AU50 to AU55 range.

1843: Surprisingly, the Philadelphia eagle dated 1843 is scarcer than its high mintage New Orleans counterpart. I'd go with a nice Choice AU 1843.

1844: The little-known 1844 is actually a rare coin in all grades and a real stopper in AU50 and above. Thus, I'd go with the 1844-O and look for a nice mid-range AU that had good color and surfaces.

1845: Again, the Philadelphia eagle is rarer but the 1845 is not nearly as hard to locate as the 1844. I'd look for a nice 1845-P in the lower AU grades as I think this issue is very good value in this range.

1846: This is the last of the tougher date Philadelphia issues for the next decade+. I'd stick with a nice AU50 to AU55 and I'd be patient for one with good color and fewer marks than average. In my opinion, nice 1846-P eagles remain undervalued at current levels.

1847: Both the 1847-P and 1847-O are common issues. I'd go for a nice AU55 to AU58 example of the New Orleans coin.

1848: The 1848-O isn't really rare but it is a tough coin to locate above AU53 to AU55, especially with original color and surfaces. I'd look for a nice example, keeping in mind that all pieces known have weak overall strikes.

1849: I'm a big fan of the 1849-O eagle as a date and believe that nice examples in all grades above EF40 are much harder to locate than generally believed. The Philadelphia issue is affordable in grades up to and including MS61/62.

1850: There are two varieties of 1850-P eagle: the Small Date and the Large date. The former is much scarcer and it is very overlooked. I'd look for a nice mid-range AU example.

1851: Both the Philadelphia and New Orleans eagles from 1851 are fairly non-descript issues. I'd stick with an 1851-P and look for a pleasing AU58.

1852: The 1852-P is very common while the 1852-O is a scarce to rare issue. I like the latter quite a bit and would probably rather have a pleasing EF45 for the same price that I'd be spending on an MS60 to MS61 1852-P.

1853: The most interesting issue struck in 1853 is the 1853/2 overdate from Philadelphia. This is the only confirmed overdate in the entire Liberty Head eagle series and it is an underappreciated coin in all grades. I'd look for a nice AU50 to AU55.

1854: With the opening of the San Francisco mint, the number of facilities coining eagles grows to three in 1854. The 1854-S isn't a really scarce coin but it is a neat date and it is certainly the issue I'd choose to represent this year for my date set. Look for an AU50 to AU55 example with minimal bagmarks.

1855: Of the three eagles struck in 1855, the Philadelphia coin is common, the New Orleans coin is scarce and the San Francisco coin is rare. I would personally choose the 1855-O and I'd look for a coin in the EF45 to AU53 range.

1856: For this year, Philadelphia and San Francisco are common while the 1856-O is scarce to very scarce. I like the 1856-O eagle and would vote to include a choice EF45 to AU53 example in my year set.

1857: The mintage figures for all three issues are lower in 1857 than they were in the previous few years. The 1857-P is a sleeper that is still a good value in circulated grades while the 1857-O is undervalued. But I'd probably go with the 1857-S because of its historic association with the popular S.S. Central America double eagles dated 1857-S.

1858: The 1858-P is a famous rarity with just 2,521 struck. If you can find (and afford) a pleasing EF example, I'd strongly recommend including it in this set. The 1858-S is a rare coin as well. For practical purposes, you might want to pursue the more affordable 1858-O in AU50 to AU55.

1859: As this decade draws to a close, mintages continue to shrink. The 1859-P is fairly common while the 1859-O is very rare and the 1859-S is rare. To keep your powder dry for the rare coins that await in the 1860's, I'd suggest looking for a choice AU 1859-P.

1860: This is the final issue from New Orleans until 1879 so it seems natural to choose the 1860-O. The Philadelphia issue is common while the San Francisco issue is very rare. An 1860-O in AU50 to AU55 is affordable yet historic.

1861: Beginning with this year, we are back to two mints striking eagles: Philadelphia and San Francisco. The former is common while the latter is scarce to very scarce. I'd choose a nice AU58 to MS61 1861-P eagle as it is by far the most affordable Civil War issue.

1862: Until recently the 1862-P was an undiscovered sleeper but prices have risen as collectors learn of its true scarcity. The 1862-S is very rare and seldom seen above EF45. I'd stick with an Extremely Fine example of the 1862-P.

1863: This year is among the most challenging in this set as both issues are very rare. The Philadelphia eagle is a major rarity with just 1,248 examples produced. The San Francisco eagle has a mintage of 10,000 and it is more available. I'd stick with a nice EF example of the 1863-S but if a sensible 1863-P became available I'd consider it strongly as it is still very undervalued.

1864: Think the 1863 eagles were tough? Try the 1864. The 1864-P is rare with 3,580 struck while the 1864-S is one of the great rarities in the series with only 2,500 struck. You really can't go wrong with either coin for your set but as you as more likely to find an 1864-P than an 1864-S, I'd have to suggest going for the former. I'd splurge on this date and buy the nicest quality you can afford.

1865: Things don't get much easier in 1865. The Philadelphia issue is very rare while there are two varieties from San Francisco: the Normal Date and the Inverted Date. I'd choose the latter due to its "coolness factor" and the difficulty of locating the other issues. An EF40 to AU50 is going to be about the best you'll see for this year.

1866: This is a numismatically significant issue as it represents a transitional year. The San Francisco mint struck eagles with and without the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on the reverse while Philadelphia only made with motto coins. I'd opt for the rare 1866-S No Motto which had a mintage of only 8,500. Anything grading higher than EF45 will be very expensive.

So there you have it. A total of 28 issues make up the No Motto part of the Liberty Head eagle set. There are three mints to choose from for some years and only a few dates (the 1863, 1864 and 1865 in particular) that will be hard to find and high priced. Assuming you follow the suggestions for dates and grades that I made above, we are probably talking about an overall average per coin cost of around $4,000-5,000. This translates to a low cost of around $112,000 and a high cost of around $140,000. If you were to pick the most common issue for each date and stick with coins in the EF40 to AU50 range, this would probably lower the cost to less than $100,000.

In Part Two of this article, which will be published in February 2012, we will look at the 1867-1907 dates. We'll see the introduction of the Carson City mint, the resumption of the New Orleans mint, the short duration of the Denver mint...and we'll have a good ol' numismatic time.

20 Interesting, Undervalued U.S. Gold Coins You Can Buy for Less Than $5,000

In a recent blog, I mentioned the fact that the entry level to become a buyer of interesting United States gold coins was a much lower barrier than many new collectors realize. I mentioned some general issues and types that could be found in the $1,000-2,500 range that I felt were interesting and good values. I'd like to expand this idea and discuss 20 specific rare coins that can be purchased for $5,000 or less. 1. 1865 Gold Dollar. Unlike the low mintage gold dollars from the 1880's, this Civil War issue was actually used in commerce. Only 3,700 business strikes were produced and just a few hundred examples are known today. I wouldn't exactly call this issue "rare" but it is certainly not one that you are going to be able to go to a national-caliber coin show and find more than one or two; if that.

For a collector with a $5,000 per coin budget, you can buy a really nice 1865 gold dollar. As an example, Heritage 1/11: 6672, graded MS61 by NGC, brought a reasonable $3,450. I sold a solid PCGS AU58 last year as an "E-Special" to raregoldcoins.com preferred clients for $1,500.

2. 1872 Gold Dollar. The 1872 is another low mintage issue but it doesn't receive the attention that the 1865 does since it isn't a Civil War issue. Only 3,500 were struck and I doubt if more than 200 or so are known; most in the AU53 to MS61 range.

This date remains very affordable in the lower Uncirculated grades as witnessed by the recent sale of an NGC MS62 for $1,265 in the Heritage June 2011 auction. Interestingly, only one example better than MS64 has sold at auction since January 2009 (an MS67) yet a nice quality MS64 should be available, with some searching, for around $3,000.

3. 1839 Quarter Eagle. This date has been a favorite of mine for years. It is by far the rarest Philadelphia Classic Head quarter eagle. Interestingly, it has fewer appearances at auction over the last two decades than the celebrated 1838-C and 1839-D and it might actually be a rarer issue than these two first-year branch mint emissions.

Despite the scarcity of the 1839, it remains a good value for the collector with a $5,000 and lower budget. An AU50 is currently worth Around $2,500-3,000 while an AU55 goes for $3,500-4,000 and an AU58 should sell for $4,500-5,000. Be aware of the fact that this is an extremely hard date to find with natural color and surfaces and a choice, high piece is worth as much as a 50% premium over a typical example.

4. 1845-O Quarter Eagle. This is another long-time favorite of mine. The 1845-O is by far the scarcest quarter eagle from New Orleans and it has an original mintage of just 4,000. This date has been recognized as a rarity in higher grades and a nice AU coin is going to be out of reach for the collector with a $5,000 budget. But that doesn't mean that a presentable example is out of the question.

I sold a nice NGC VF25 example of this date a few months ago for around $1,500. Heritage 3/11: 4631, graded EF40 by PCGS, sold for $4,025 and as far as I can tell this seems to be a record price for an EF40 that was clearly not going to upgrade; others have sold in this grade for $2,500-3,000 in the last few years. I can see EF's eclipsing the $5,000 mark in the near-future so this is one undervalued date that might not be so undervalued the next time I write an article of this sort!

5. 1867 Quarter Eagle. You'd think that an issue with a total PCGS population of just twenty-nine in all grades (that's the exact same number, by the way, as the 1856-D quarter eagle; an issue that's worth more than 10x an 1867 in AU) would be better recognized as a scarcity. Yet the 1867 continues to languish and it remains an affordable issue.

Trends for the 1867 quarter eagle is $1,900 in AU55 and $3,000 in AU58 and, when available, examples tend to sell for a discount in relation to these numbers. If just a few people started to collect Liberty Head quarter eagles by date (or if one or two people began to haord 1867 quarter eagles) I could see the price of this issue doubling nearly overnight.

6. 1883 Quarter Eagle. The date run of quarter eagles produced between 1877 and 1895 contains many low mintage issues and a number of these are affordable, scarce and undervalued. I probably could have chosen four or five of them for this article but decided to focus on the 1883, an issue that I like very much.

Just 1,920 business strikes were made and my best estimate is that around 100-125 are known today. I have never personally seen an 1883 quarter eagle that graded higher than MS62 and only one or two at that level. The last Uncirculated piece to sell was an NGC MS61 that brought $4,313 in the Heritage 3/11 auction. Despite this coin obvious rarity, you can still buy a nice AU in the $2,000-3,000 range and MS61 examples have sold in the $3,500-4,500 during the last few years.

7. 1867 Three Dollars. In circulated grades, the 1867 doesn't sell for all that much of a premium over some reasonably common dates of this design. I have found the 1867 to be a challenging coin to locate and it appears for sale less often than such heralded issues as the 1864, 1870, 1871 and 1872. There were 2,600 struck and most are seen in the AU grades.

For $3,000 to $4,000 you can purchase an attractive AU5 to AU58 1867 Three Dollar gold piece. I would personally look for a really choice AU58 with original color and choice surfaces. These pieces do exist although they are hard to find.

8. 1884 Three Dollar. I've been a big fan of the low mintage Three Dollar gold pieces from the 1880's for years. The 1884 is not the rarest issue of this group (that honor belongs to the 1881) but it is very underrated, especially in higher grades.

There were exactly 1,000 business strikes produced. Unlike many of the low mintage Threes of this era, the 1884 is nearly impossible to find in grades above MS63. In Uncirculated, this date is going to be out of the price range for the sub-$5,000 coin buyer but I have sold at least two or three nice AU58's for less than $4,250 in the last two years.

9. 1842 Large Letters and Small Letters Half Eagle(s). There are a number of No Motto half eagles that are great values for less than $5,000 and both varieties of half eagle dated 1842 rank close to the top. The Large Letters is the scarcer of the two but both are extremely hard to locate.

Every year at auction, I only see maybe one or two decent 1842 half eagles yet EF coins continue to sell in the $2,000-2,500 range while AU's bring around $4,000-5,000 depending on quality. I very rarely see examples that are choice and original and I personally think a high end coin, even in VF grades is worth a significant premium.

10. 1842-O Half Eagle. I could have put at least three (if not four) New Orleans half eagles in this article. Despite a big boost in popularity in the last few years, nice EF No Motto examples of the scarcer date New Orleans half eagles remain within reach of most collectors.

The 1842-O is the second rarest half eagle from this mint. Probably no more than 50-75 are known from a mintage of 16,400. I just sold a very presentable VF example for around $1,500. Last summer, a pair of PCGS EF45's sold at auction for $3,738 and $3,881 respectively. I think a really nice EF45 coin can still be bought for less than $5,000 and I think it's one of the single best values in this group of twenty: a rare coin, a coin that's in demand and an issue that becomes extremely pricey as the grade scale is increased.

11. Undervalued Dahlonega Half Eagles. Even though this series is avidly collected by date, there are at least three Dahlonega half eagles that I can think of that carry virtually no premium in VF and EF grades yet are two or three times rarer than the "common" dates of this type. The ones that come to mind are the 1846-D Normal Mintmark, the 1848-D and the 1851-D.

The most recent Coin World Trends values the common date 1853-D and 1854-D at $3,000 in EF45. In the same grade, the 1846-D Normal Mintmark is valued at $2,750, the 1848-D at $2,750 as well and the 1851-D at $3,000. At common date valuations, these three issues are extremely good buys for the collector. A little hint: the 1848-D half eagle is really rare in EF with a sharp strike and natural color. At a price anywhere near its current Trends value, it is a really exceptional deal.

12. 1850 Half Eagle. This is the rarest half eagle struck at the Philadelphia mint between 1843 and 1862 (with the possible exception of the 1859 which is another really undervalued issue). Yet the last two I've sold in AU58 (both were nice coins, by the way) fetched around $1,500 each.

The 1850 half eagle is actually a scarcer coin in AU grades than its Charlotte and Dahlonega counterparts; at around a quarter of the price. Yes, I know the C+D mint issues are around four times more popular but the 1850 half eagle still seems like a great value.

13. San Francisco Half Eagles, 1858-1867. If you like truly rare coins and have $2,500-$5,000 to spend on each purchase, this subgroup would make for a very interesting date run. You can't buy the 1864-S in any grade without spending at least $10,000+ but the other nine dates will be within your budget as long as you focus on VF and EF grades.

Most of these issues have surviving populations of less than 100 coins and nearly all become very rare and very expensive in AU50 and higher. Yet they remain affordable in VF and EF grades. They certainly aren't plentiful; as an example, PCGS has only graded twenty-five examples of the 1862-S in EF and lower grades. Factoring in resubmissions and ugly coins, this probably equates to no more than fifteen or so pieces. Rare, yes, but not so much so that you can't find one without some patience. And at $3,000-4,000 for a nice VF+ example, a hard coin not to like!

14. Slider No Motto Liberty Head Eagles. If I were collecting gold coins and had a $2,500-5,000 per coin budget I'd give very serious thought to assembling a date run of No Motto Philadelphia eagles from the 1840's and the 1850's.

With the exception of a few dates (the 1844-1846 and 1858), most of these issues can be found in AU58 in this price range. The more common dates can be found for less than $1,500. Given the fact that a very common With Motto issue has a "basal value" of around $750-850 in slider grades, the fact that you can buy a coin like, say, an 1852 $10 in AU58 for around $1,500 seems like great value to me.

15. 1862-1877 Liberty Head eagles. As long as you are patient and willing to buy coins in the VF-EF range, there are some great values in the eagles series. Almost every date struck between 1862 and 1877 at the Philadelphia and San Francisco mints was melted in abundance and this fact, coupled with low original mintages in many cases means rare dates. In most cases, we're talking about 75-100 known.

It would be fun to collect coins like this in conjunction with similarly dated half eagles. In the eagle series, your $2,500 per coin expenditure isn't going to go very far so it might be wise to budget closer to $5,000 per coin. At this level there are plenty of interesting coins.

16. "Better Date" Liberty Eagles, 1880-1907. One of the consequences of the current weakness in the generic gold market is the near-total evaporation of the Market Premium Factor for certain semi-scarce to scarce eagles produced in the 1880's, 1890's and early 1900's.

Let me give you an example. Currently, a generic MS62 Liberty eagle is worth around $850. For $900-$1,100 you can buy coins like an 1882-S or an 1889-S in this grade that are many times scarcer than a common date. Will the market premium factor that these issues once had ever return? I think they will, to a degree. But in the mean time, it's kind of fun to buy conditionally scarce coins for little or no premium.

17. 1889 Eagle. I couldn't mention the late dates of this denomination without specifically discussing the rare 1889. You can make the case that a number of the issues from the 1880's and 1890's are scarce solely based on grade but not the 1889; this is a genuinely scarce coin in all grades with an original mintage of just 4,440.

An About Uncirculated 1889 eagle has a current market value of around $2,000. In Uncirculated, you should expect to spend around $4,000 or more for an MS60. It should be noted that this date almost never comes with good eye appeal so, in this case, a clean(ish) AU55 might actually make more sense than an abraded MS60 to MS61.

18. 1854 through 1858 Philadelphia Double Eagles. No, I don't own rolls of these and am not constantly self-promoting them. But as a dealer who sells alot of Type One double eagles, I'm always looking out for the 1854 Large Date, 1855, 1856, 1857 and 1858 in nice AU53 to AU58.

My experience has shown me that these coins are very popular, very liquid and still within the budget constraints of most collectors. I find that many San Francisco Type One double eagles are not well struck and have appearance issues. These five Philadelphia issues tend to be better struck and have better eye appeal than their San Francisco counterparts.

19. 1869, 1870 and 1871 Double Eagles. These three Type Two Philadelphia double eagles remain affordable in EF and AU grades yet they are scarce and desirable issues.

Of the three, I personally like the 1871 the most but all are hard to find in the higher AU grades. You are looking at around $3,000 for a low-end AU and a bit more than $5,000 for a coin at the upper end of this range. I'd suggest being patient and waiting for examples that are clean for the grade, choice and as original as possible.

20. Big Spread S Mint Type Three Double Eagles. The early date San Francisco Type Three issues (specifically those produced between 1877 and 1882) are true condition rarities. Most of these issues are expensive in MS62 and above but affordable in MS61. I like the value of these coins in MS61.

Here's an example. In MS62, an 1879-S is worth in the $11,000-13,000 range. The same date in MS61 is worth around $4,000 to 5,000. In some cases, a high end MS61 is as attractive as a lower end MS62. As Type Threes become more popular with date collectors (and I think they will), it seems like many people will gravitate towards the 1879-S in nice MS61.

There are dozens of other undervalued United States gold coins that could have made this list. I'd be curious to hear from you with your comments about omissions as well as about those included on this list.

The $103,500 1862-S Eagle

Lost in the hubbub surrounding the recently-concluded Central States coin show and the Heritage auction held with it was a sale that I think ranks as one of the more remarkable in the rare gold coin market all year. The coin of which I speak is an 1862-S eagle graded MS61 by NGC. Unless you are pretty knowledgeable, this coin probably doesn't seem like anything too impressive. But to those of us who know and love the Liberty Head eagle series, this is a coin that is impressive; downright impressive, in fact.

According to information from the cataloger, this coin showed up at the March 2011 ANA show in Sacramento where it was graded and encapsulated by NGC. The cataloger went on to add "the coin was apparently preserved by a single family for many years and we can find no previous auction appearances for it." Now that's a fresh coin!

The 1862-S, as a date, is sort of overlook-able. It is not even close to the 1864-S in terms of overall rarity and it is overshadowed by the 1865-S Normal Date as well. A total of 12,500 were struck of which an estimated 75 or so are known. This date is actually not all that hard to find in the lower grades (in this case, VF and EF) but it is very rare in properly graded AU and extremely rare in the higher range of this grade. It was previously unknown in Uncirculated and I have never seen one better than AU55.

As of the middle of 2011, PCGS hadn't graded any examples of this date higher than AU55. NGC had graded two in AU58. The previous auction record for an 1862-S eagle was $25,300 set all the way back in May 1994 by a PCGS EF40 in the Bowers and Merena sale that would grade at least AU50 by today's standards. The best coin that I can remember having seen prior to this newly-discovered piece was Bass III: 653, a PCGS AU55, that sold for a very reasonable $8,050.

When I examined the coin in person, I was impressed. I'm not certain that the coin would "cross" to a PCGS MS61 holder but I thought the coin was really Uncirculated with nice surfaces and a great overall look for the date. I was particularly impressed with the coin's luster. Considering what the typical 1862-S looks like (very worn and usually very abraded), this was clearly a special coin.

But here's the rub. While "special," this coin is as esoteric as all get-out. Its the sort of coin that, if it had been offered to me by the owner, I would have had the following conversation with myself:

Doug Winter's Adventurous Side: "This is a great coin! Its unique in Uncirculated! You love coins like this! You have to buy it!"

Doug Winter's Practical Side: "But who cares? Its a very expensive S Mint Ten and coins like this are unsaleable. The two biggest collectors for this series already have decent coins and they might not want to upgrade. If they pass, there might be no one else who cares. Cool, cool coin but I pass."

Usually, the DWPS is smarter than the DWAS and Mr. Practical wins. But in this case, Mr. Adventurous was right.

I don't know who bought this coin or who the under-bidder was. I was guessing before the sale started that the coin would bring in the area of $50,000-60,000. CDN Quarterly Bid was $31,000 in MS60 (which is a totally arbitrary number since none existed before this coin was slabbed in March but it was the basis that most buyers were going to operate from). I did make the statement to a fellow dealer a few hours before the sale began that this was a coin that I could put in my case at a major coin show, price at $60,000 and not get so much as a bite.

The price realized of $103,500 is remarkable for a variety of reasons. The first is that this price is further proof that the Liberty Head eagle series, after years and years of neglect, has really come into its own. The second is that it shows that great coins, no matter how "esoteric" they appear, are capable of bringing startling prices in today's quality and rarity driven market. The third is the fact that a coin like this even exists and how it came onto the market with no prior history. It proves that there are great coins out there, still awaiting discovery.

Some of My Favorite Obscure United States Gold Coins: Part Two

The first part of this article, published at the end of December 2010, discussed some of my favorite little-known United States gold coins in the dollar, quarter eagle and three dollar denominations. In the second and final part of this series, I'm going to look at some of the more interesting half eagles, eagles and double eagles that I have seen or sold over the course of the last two decades as a specialist in United States gold coinage. One quick note. I received some comments about the first part of this series that asked why I didn't include Proofs or 20th century coins. While I like Proof gold, I am not often that impressed with it (there are exceptions, of course...) and a great business strike is a coin that is more likely to stay with me. The same goes for 20th century gold coins. I love the designs and respect the collectors but I can remember more than a handful of Ten Indians or Saints that have left decade-long impressions on my coin psyche.

1. Half Eagles

a) 1838-C, graded MS63 by PCGS. There are a number of Charlotte half eagles that are rarer than the 1838-C. But this is among the more difficult half eagles from this mint to locate in higher grades. In Uncirculated, it is exceedingly rare and this example, which first surfaced in the Stack's 1978 Bareford auction, is the only unequivocally Mint State piece of which I am aware.

I first saw this coin in the October 1989 Superior sale. I badly wanted to buy it but didn't have a client for it at the time. It sold for $48,400 which seemed like a lot of money for an 1838-C half eagle twenty+ years ago. It was purchased by dealer Andy Lustig who was never able to sell it and I think he had it in his stock for close to two years before he gave up and put it into the 8/91 Akers/Rarcoa sale where it went cheaply at $38,500. It was later acquired by Harry Bass via private treaty with yours truly playing a small supporting role. After Bass died, it was sold in October 1999 by Bowers and Merena auctions where it was purchased by the Pogue family for $86,250.

I love this coin for numerous reasons. Its easily the finest known example of the first Charlotte half eagle. Its the only Charlotte half eagle that employs the Classic Head design. Its amazingly choice for the issue. It is one of those coins that every time I think about it I say to myself "why didn't you buy that coin for yourself when it was cheap and only a handful of people appreciated it?"

b) 1847, graded MS66 by PCGS

This was an especially memorable coin for me because I think it was one of the most controversial gold coins I can remember viewing. The coin in question was a staggering 1847 with a virtually perfect obverse and a reverse with the Mother of all Copper Spots. I'm not talking a small copper spot; I'm talking a deep, dark multi-hued stain that covered most of the reverse. I recall sitting in the bar of the Baltimore Marriott hotel the night before the sale began, talking shop with other dealers. Some people loved the coin (I was one of them) but other people absolutely hated it; and this was before the era that all copper spots "had" to be removed in order for a coin to sell!

The coin wound up bringing $110,000 which I though was a staggering price considering the dissent it caused among bidders at the sale. It later graded MS66 at PCGS (I graded it "67 net 66" and figured the spot would lower the grade by a point which it did). Years later it appeared as ANR 11/04: 1804 where it brought $92,000; a poor return for a seven year hold. Seeing it again, I still loved the coin but thought that, for $100,000, I'd prefer a No Motto half eagle with a little less "character."

3. 1864-S, graded MS65 by PCGS. I've written about this coin before. It's among my favorite United States coins ever and its one of those special coins that combine extreme rarity with amazing aesthetics.

The 1864-S is the second rarest collectible Liberty Head half eagle, trailing only the 1875. There are around 25-35 known in all grades but most are well-worn and I know of just two or three in the AU grade range. And then there is this piece, which must have either been saved as an assay coin or somehow put away (on purpose or accidentally) by someone in San Francisco at the time of issue.

You have to see this coin in person to appreciate its beauty. Other than some weakness of strike on the stars it is nearly flawless and probably would grade a point or two higher by today's standards. Harry Bass bought it out of the Norweb I sale in October 1987 and it is originally from Kosoff's Melish collection sale in 1956. It brought $176,000 in 1999 which I thought was a good deal then and which seems amazingly cheap now.

2. Eagles

1) 1839 Type of 1840, graded MS64 by NGC. The span of years from 1995 to 2001 was unique in that a lot of really great old collections were taken to auction and sold. Unless something totally unsuspected happens, I can't imagine we'll ever see another five or six years with so many great coins in so many sales. For me, the Pittman sale was one of the most fun and challenging.

Pittman was like the Super Bowl of coin auctions. All the coins were raw (I doubt we'll ever see a huge sale like this again with raw coins...), the material was as fresh as could be imagined, every major player was involved and the terms were cash and carry, meaning that you had little margin for error.

There were so many great coins in the Pittman sales but this 1839 Type of 1840 eagle is one that I still remember. It sold for $143,000 to Greg Roberts and I was the underbidder. I didn't have a client in mind for the coin and I was actually going to put it away in my own collection. Now graded MS64 by NGC, the coin is staggeringly beautiful with amazing deep yellow-gold color, great surfaces and superb luster. I have always liked the design of this issue and have found it to be a rare coin in AU and higher grades. The Pittman coin appears to be the finest known and there are only three Uncirculated pieces that exist.

2) 1848-O, graded MS66 by PCGS. The James Stack sale, held by Stack's in October 1994, is one of those auctions that don't get mentioned much but it was, in my opinion, one of the premier numismatic events of the 1990's. It was a great collection, put together by a sophisticated collector and there were a number of really wonderful coins.

My favorite coin in the sale was Lot 1298 which was a monumental 1848-O eagle. Later graded MS66 by both NGC and PCGS, this coin is certainly one of the finest No Motto eagles known and it is far and away the finest New Orleans eagle of this type.

The 1848-O eagle was a coin that caused quite a commotion during lot viewing. It was what I call a "pass around" coin, meaning that the dealers viewing the sale on more than one occasion stopped viewing the lots while the coin was passed around from person to person with appropriate comments made at each stop.

At the Stack sale, it brought $154,000 which was a huge, huge price for a New Orleans eagle in 1994. It resurfaced in the 2003 ANA sale and was later seen in the inventory of a California dealer around 2009-2010.

3. 1899-O, graded MS68 by PCGS. One of the really great numismatics accomplishments of the modern era was the group of gold coins put together by Les Fox known as Amazing Gold Rarities. Using Dave Akers as his adviser, in a few short years, Fox gathered a really superb group of coins that he proposed to sell at Sotheby's or Christie's presented as great artworks. Great idea, yes? Except not great enough to get either Sotheby's or Christie's involved and the holdings wound-up in a more conventional Stack's auction held in October, 1988.

There were many great coins in this sale but, for some reason, the one that sticks with me nearly twenty-five years later is the 1899-O eagle that was first sold in the Eliasberg sale and which was obtained by John Clapp directly from the mint at the time of issue.

I haven't seen this coin since 1988 but I remember it being the single most perfect 19th century U.S. gold coin that I'd ever seen. It had virtually perfect surfaces, superb color and sensational frosty luster. It was later graded MS68 by PCGS and I would be curious to see it today and speculate how it would grade by current standards. Just as an FYI, it brought all of $39,600 in October 1988.

3. Double Eagles

a) 1861, graded MS67 by PCGS. The discovery of thousands of high quality Type One double eagles in the S.S. Central America probably had a bigger impact on this specific coin than on any other issue I can think of. For many years this coin was THE Type One double eagle and I still think it is the best single example of this type that is known. But that didn't keep it from becoming an obscurity.

As far as I know, this incredible Gem was first sold at auction in Rarcoa's session of Auction '90 where it brought a remarkable $170,750. A year later, in a much less robust market, it sold for just $68,750 (ouch!) in the Superior May 1991 auction. I seem to recall it bouncing around from dealer-to-dealer until it brought $96,800 as Lot 7947 in Heritage's 1995 ANA sale. The value of this coin increased through the late 1990's and by the turn of the century it was probably worth around what it had brought in Auction '90. But after the onslaught of Gem Type Ones from the SSCA shipwreck its value yo-yo'ed back to its May 1991 level.

I've still never seen a Type One that compares to this coin. Great luster, great color, great surfaces...it was a really spectacular coin and it's something that I would very much like to see again after being off the market for so long.

b) 1891, graded MS64 by NGC. This coin was one of many great double eagles that was sold in the Dallas Bank Collection auction in 2001. This is a sale (and a coin) that offers an extensive backstory for me.

The Dallas Bank collection was owned by Jeff Browning, a Texas oil man who had died young in the 1970's or 1980's. I had known about this collection since I moved to Dallas in 1983 and because of the fact that I never got to see it, despite it residing in a bank less than two miles from my house, it became my numismatic Loch Ness Monster. When it was finally announced that it was going to be sold at auction in New York by Sotheby's and Stack's in October 2001, I was very excited.

The trip to New York for this sale was nerve-wracking as it was my first time on a plane since the 9/11 attacks. I remember lots of soldiers at DFW with machine guns, incredibly tight security and a nervous feeling on the plane that's hard to describe unless you flew yourself at that time. New York was still reeling from the tragedy. There were fliers on the walls searching for missing people and when I went downtown with a fellow coin dealer to see the Trade Towers site, you could still smell the smoke and chemical odor. Chilling...

I thought the coins in the sale didn't all live up to their legend(s) but there were many I liked. The one I liked the most was an amazing 1891 double eagle that was later graded MS64 by NGC. It sold for $80,500. It came on the market again in January 2005 and Heritage sold it, this time in the aforementioned NGC holder, for $155,250.

What are the obscure rarities that stand out to you? I would love to hear from you and can be reached by email at dwn@ont.com or, you can leave a comment at the end of this article.

AU58 New Orleans Eagles: A Case Study

Take two 1842-O Liberty Head eagles in NGC AU58. One is worth $11,500 and gets multiple orders on my website within hours of being posted. The other sells in an auction for $6,325 and is a marginal value. Why is one coin worth nearly twice as much as the other despite the fact that they are the same date in the "same" grade? The coin(s) in question is, as I stated above, an 1842-O eagle in AU58. A little background information on this issue is appropriate to help better understand the issue at hand. A total of 27,400 examples were produced. This issue saw extensive use in commerce and it is essentially the first available eagle from this mint given the rarity of the 1841-O (only 2,500 were produced). When available, the 1842-O tends to be in VF and EF grades and it is scarce in the lower AU grades. It becomes rare in properly graded AU55 and it is very rare in AU58. This issue is an extreme rarity in Mint State with just two or three known. The second finest of these, graded MS61 by PCGS, just brought $74,750 in the August 2010 Stack's auction.

I bought the NGC AU58 example illustrated below at the recent Philadelphia coin show sponsored by Whitman and it was among my best purchases at the show. I paid a strong price for this coin but was happy to do so (and would do so again).

What makes this a special coin? I was really attracted to this coin by its originality. It has superb deep original coloration on the obverse and reverse which suggests that it has never been cleaned or dipped. Notice the depth of the color and how even it is on both sides. I also like how clean the surfaces are. This is an issue that is typically found with densely abraded surfaces and even the MS61 piece that I mentioned above had considerable marks on the surfaces. This example, however, was immaculate. The luster of this coin, while a bit subdued as a result of the intensity of the color, is undisturbed; a result of its not having been cleaned, dipped or processed. This coin has wonderful overall eye appeal and this sort of "look" is much appreciated by connoisseurs of U.S. gold coins.

Now take a look at what I consider to be a very average "commercial quality" NGC AU58 that was last sold as Heritage 4/10: 3705. This coin brought $6,325. If you were the successful bidder, you might want to cover your eyes and not read this paragraph but...I didn't like this coin. Why didn't I like it? A number of reasons. First, I think the coin was over-graded. I regard it to be little better than AU50 to AU53 and have a problem with it in a 58 holder. Secondly, the coin is almost entirely unoriginal. It has little natural luster and is brighter than I would like to see in a coin graded AU58. Finally, it is very scuffy for the date and grade. There are numerous marks in the fields and the luster is clearly broken on both the obverse and reverse. A detracting elliptical-shaped mark below star six might possibly be mint-made but, to me, it really hurts the overall eye appeal.

Here's an instance where a plus grade would help distinguish the coins a bit or, even better, a designation of "original surfaces" could be placed on the DWN AU58 which might allow potential buyers to know the coin is special.

The difference in values for this issue in this grade is not a one-time occurrence. Heritage 4/06: 3915, a remarkably clean AU58 example in a PCGS holder, brought $15,065. This is more than two and a half times the amount that Heritage 4/10: 3705 brought earlier this year.

The moral of the story is that a grade on a holder is important but coins still sell themselves based on excellent visual appeal.

The Johnson-Blue Collection of Liberty Head Eagles: An Analysis

Every few years, an auction takes place that gives me a bad case of "Dinosaur Syndrome." By this, I mean the coins bring so much more than what I bid that I think to myself that I'm a dinosaur and am out of touch with current Numismatic Reality. After I talk myself out of this and take a deep breath or two, I find that analyzing the sale is a useful tool for my bruised psyche. Just prior to the 2010 Boston ANA convention, Stack's sold a specialized group of Liberty Head eagles that they named the "Johnson Blue" collection. These coins were interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, they were clearly fresh to the market and, I am told, many of them were purchased by the consignor back in the 1980's. Secondly, the coins mostly had original surfaces with a nice crusty appearance; a welcome change from the usual processed better date Liberty Head eagles that one sees available in today's market. Finally, there were a number of dates that you typically don't see much anymore (such as 1863, 1864 and 1865) in grades that were above-average.

I had a feeling that this was going to be a strong sale, but the final results were pretty stunning to me. In some cases my bids were close to winning a lot; in other cases they were laughably distant from the eventual final bid. Let's take a look at some of the more significant eagles in this collection and ponder on their prices.

1842-O, Graded MS61 by PCGS. Lot 1094. Stack's sort of underplayed this lot in the catalog, but New Orleans eagle collectors knew that this was a special coin. There are just three Uncirculated examples known to me and this fresh example had excellent color and surfaces. The last Uncirculated piece to sell was Superior 5/08: 103, graded MS61 by NGC and pedigreed to the S.S. Republic shipwreck. It brought $29,900 but I discounted this price as the coin was not attractive. But given this prior sales record, I bid $40,000 for the Johnson-Blue example and thought I had a decent shot of buying it. I wasn't even close. The coin brought $74,750 which, to me, is an incredibly strong price and one that shows me the depth of this market.

1848-O, Graded AU55 by PCGS. Lot 1101. This was a nice example of a date that isn't really all that rare in the higher AU grades. I figured it would grade AU58 at NGC. There have been at least seven different auction records between $5,000 and $6,000 in the last six years for AU55 coins and a nice AU58 is worth $7,500 to $8,500. This coin brought $12,650, or around double what I would have paid. And results like this set the tone for the whole evening.

1852-O, Graded AU55 by PCGS. Lot 1108. I like this date very much but wasn't really overwhelmed by the quality of this coin. It was what I call "product." This means a coin that I would be happy to own but since it is just so-so for the grade, I wouldn't bid strongly for it. There have been at least nine auction trades in the last seven years for 1852-O eagles in AU55 (mostly in NGC holders and mostly low end for the grade) and they have typically brought between $5,000 and $6,000. This example sold for $8,912.50. While I don't regard this price as "astonishing" I do think it is very strong; especially when one considers that Trends for an 1852-O eagle in this grade is only $8,750.

1862, Graded AU58 by PCGS. Lot 1133. This is an interesting date. It is common in the lower circulated grades and only moderately scarce in AU53 to AU55 but it is very rare in properly graded AU58 and there are just two known to me in Uncirculated. The Johnson-Blue coin was among the best 1862 eagles I've seen; clean and lustrous with good color and nice eye appeal. But I didn't think it would upgrade. Enough of these have traded in AU58 that I expected a nice PCGS AU58 like this to bring $5,000-6,000; possibly as much as $7,500 given the nature of this sale. The final price realized was $25,300. What makes this price even more remarkable was that the far superior Bass IV: 681 coin, graded MS62 by PCGS, sold for just $12,650. Maybe I'm totally out of touch with the market, but I think you could have taken the exact 1862 eagle that sold in this auction and shown it to five very sharp gold dealers at $7,500 before the sale and all five (myself included) would have passed.

1863, Graded AU50 by PCGS, Lot 1135. I was reasonably certain that this coin was going to be a bidder favorite. The 1863 is among the rarest Liberty Head eagles with just 1,218 struck. There hadn't been a piece available at auction since Stack's 9/06: 1492 (a raw "AU" that sold for $21,850) and just five slabbed pieces had sold since 2000 (including the amazing PCGS MS63 that was ex: Bass IV: 683 and which, at just $52,900, has to rank as one of the single biggest bargains in the final Bass sale). The Johnson Blue coin was a bit "ticky" but it had nice color and was notable for its originality. It brought $27,600 which seems like an incredible price given that Trends is $17,500 and CDN Bid is $15,000. I'd say it is actually a pretty good value and that published price information is way too low; and should be changed to reflect the true value of this extremely rare issue.

1864 Graded AU53 by PCGS. Lot 1138. The 1864 is not as rare as the 1863 (mintage this year increased to a "whopping" 3,500) but its Civil War issuance makes it popular. The last comparable coin to sell at auction was an NGC AU53 (Superior 9/08: 458) that went for $10,925. The Johnson Blue coin was one of the nicer AU examples of this date that I've seen and I thought it was a good candidate to upgrade to AU55. That said, I never expected it to sell for $23,000. Especially since an NGC MS61 had brought only $16,766 back in Heritage 3/05 auction. But the market has clearly changed for Liberty Head eagles and yesterday's prices suddenly look like the bargains that I've been ranting about for the last decade+.

1865 Graded AU53 by PCGS. Lot 1139. The last of the four important Civil War Philadelphia eagles in this collection and a rare, underrated issue with an original mintage of 3,980. I find the 1865 to be a harder coin to locate than the 1864 although the PCGS population figures do not support this. The Johnson-Blue coin was a decent AU53 which was a trifle on the dull side but which had nice color and a good overall look. It sold for $9,775 which I though was a pretty reasonable price, given what the 1862 and 1864 eagles sold for. The last AU53 to trade at auction was an NGC piece, Heritage 2009 CSNS: 3844, that sold cheaply at $5,463. The Johnson-Blue coin brought more because it was nicer. Trends on this date is only $10,000 in AU55 and I think it should be raised to reflect the true rarity of this issue.

1870-CC Graded EF45 by PCGS. Lot 1149. This was one of my favorite coins in the sale. It was a choice, original example of a date that is recognized as the key eagle from the Carson City mint but which is, at the same time, a coin that is still undervalued in many respects. My gut feeling was that this coin was worth in the $40,000-45,000 range and I bid $35,000. I did not win the coin as it sold for $46,000. With Trends at $45,000 this seems like a very strong price for the issue but I actually think that while not "cheap" it was a pretty good value for the buyer. There have been very few nice 1870-CC eagles available since 2007 and the last decent piece to trade at auction, a PCGS EF40, brought $40,250 as Lot 2147 in the Heritage June 2008 sale.

What did this sale prove to me? The first thing was that it reiterated (for about the 8,776th time...) that there is a huge demand for nice fresh coins and when they become available, published price levels often have to be ignored if you want to buy them. The second thing was that the Liberty Head eagle series has really come of age. With the Liberty Head double eagle series out of the price range for many collectors due to the high price of the rare issues, eagles are no longer regarded as a poor cousin. There are clearly a number of collectors assembling date sets of eagles and many of the dates that were ignored in the distant past are now in demand. If a coin is high in the Condition Census, in a PCGS holder and attractive for the date and grade there are eager collectors who are not bashful about paying up for the coin(s). My guess is that Liberty Head half eagles will be the next series to show this surge of interest and if a fresh deal of these does become available, I wonder if we will see a repeat of the Dinosaur Syndrome where I leave another auction with my prehensile tail tucked between my legs.

The Not-So-Secret Secret 1883-O Eagle

About a month ago, I received an auction catalog from Olivier Chaponniere and Hess-Divo, two well-known Swiss firms located in Geneva and Switzerland, respectively. I often toss these catalogs directly into the recycling bin but thought I'd check this one out; if only because Hess-Divo has the reputation of selling some exceptional ancient and European coins. I went right to the United States gold section and started browsing. A few minutes in, I was startled to see an 1883-O eagle that had been graded AU58 by PCGS. From the photo, the coin looked very fresh and very nice and I was, needless to say, very interested.

For those of you that are not familiar with the 1883-O eagle, a little background information is in order. This is the single rarest eagle from New Orleans with an original mintage of only 800. There are around 35-45 known in all grades including a unique Uncirculated piece that I sold around three years ago. There are a total of five graded AU58 at PCGS with none higher. I did a little bit of research on this specific coin and learned that it was new to the PCGS population report and, in all probability, totally fresh to the market.

At this point, I was feeling pretty cocky. After all, it was a European auction and not many American dealers were even going to know about the coin, right?

I started feeling a lot less cocky when I saw these two firms at the Central States show with the American gold coins from the auction on exhibit. My hat goes off to Chaponniere and Hess-Divo. I can't think of many times that European firms have brought American coins to an American show to market them to an American audience. And especially at a non-ANA show; can you imagine the excitement that these Swiss guys must have had regarding four days in Milwaukee? (But that's another story...)

I viewed the coins in person at CSNS and loved the 1883-O. It was fairly baggy but it had nice color, attractive semi-prooflike surfaces and a virtual absence of wear. It was the best 1883-O eagle I had seen in a few years and I felt it was at least the third or fourth finest known; and certainly the only one that was going to be available.

Now I had to determine what to pay for this coin. In regards to the 1883-O eagle, this date is a sort of Numismatic Rare Date Gold Franken-coin. No one cared about this date as recently as a few years ago but I've told collectors for years how rare and desirable it was. Around three years ago, low quality examples started to sell for three or four times more than they had only a few years before this. The last two AU58 examples that I handled were an nice AU58 (ex Pinnacle collection) and a beautiful NGC coin that I sold to a Washington, D.C. collector. I had sold them for less than $40,000 each but figured that in this market that they were going to bring around $60,000. So I bid $55,000 (which translated to $60,000 with the 10% buyers premium).

So how did I do? Not well. The coin sold for an amazing 90,000 Swiss Francs which, according to my on-line currency calculator, is around $78,225. I'm assuming the consignor was even more amazed as the catalogers had estimated the coin to bring 10,000 CHF.

I learned a few valuable lessons from this experience.

The first is, that in this day and age, you could hold a coin auction on the third moon of Saturn and it would still be publicized. The Internet means that the secret auction(s) of yore are now well-attended and the information that is available to collectors regarding pricing makes formerly secret dates not so secret anymore as well.

The second is that good coins will always be found by good collectors. I know the buyer of this coin very well and he was likely to have have bought it no matter where the auction was. The fact that the coins were brought to the CSNS show was amazingly helpful to him and I'm guessing it added at least $20,000 to the bottom line; if not more.

The third is that there are still really cool coins lurking in Europe. You'd think that with American dealers having scoured Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, etc. since the 1950's that there wouldn't be much left anymore. Not true. While coins like this AU58 1883-O eagle don't show up everyday, there are clearly still some eyebrow-raising coins left overseas.

The Numismatic Double Play

Say the words "double play" and most people think of Jeter to Cano to Texeira. But in the world of gold coins, the concept of the double play has another meaning altogether. Back in the 1980's and the 1990's it was common to see large-sized U.S. gold coins marketed with the "double play" strategy. What this meant was that these coins had two inherent factors that contributed to their price structure: their intrinsic gold value and their numismatic value.

The double play concept became stale over the course of time and marketers moved on to find other way to peddle their product. But I believe that this is an idea with merit and one that should be revisited in today's value-conscious market.

People who buy U.S. gold coins typically fall into two camps: those who are investors and those who are collectors. What if a third category became a factor in the market; an investor-collector hybrid who focused on semi-scarce to scarce issues that sold for relatively small premiums above their basal value(s)?

There are basically two denominations that are perfect for the investor-collector hybrid: the ten dollar gold piece (or "eagle") and the twenty dollar gold piece (or "double eagle"). If you're with me so far, I'm going to suggest that we narrow our focus to two specific issues: the With Motto Liberty Head eagle (produced from 1866 through 1907) and the Type Two Liberty Head double eagle (produced from 1866 through 1876).

Here are some basic facts about these issues. The With Motto Liberty Head eagle weighs 16.718 grams and it contains 90% gold. As I write this article (in mid-April 2010) gold is trading for a touch above $1156 per ounce. The trading levels for eagles are as follows:

MS60: $700 MS62: $740 MS63: $1,210

It doesn't take a numismatic genius to immediately note that MS62 appears to be the best value grade for this type. At just a $40 premium above MS60 coins, you are talking around a 5% increase for what is generally going to be a much nicer coin. So for the sake of convenience, let's stick with the MS62 grade for this denomination.

The "base line" date for Liberty Head with motto eagles is the 1894 as it has the highest PCGS population in Uncirculated and in MS62. There have been 18,116 examples graded by PCGS or which 6,013 are in MS62. These numbers are, of course, swollen by resubmissions but the ratio of around one-third of all 1894's graded being in MS62 seems correct based on my experience.

There are a host of dates that we can compare with the 1894 but, again for the sake of brevity, let's focus on three of them. The first is the 1883. This issue has an original mintage figure of 208,700 (compared to 2,470,735 for the 1894). It isn't a remarkably interesting date but it is extremely rare in higher grades (PCGS has never graded an MS65 and only four have been graded MS64 by this service; in MS62 they have graded 261) and there is a big price jump between MS62 (current Trends is $865) and MS63 (current Trends is $2,500). Given the fact that the 1883 is, in theory, around twenty to thirty times rarer than the base line 1894 in MS62, it seems that its current $100-150 premium in this grade is pretty reasonable.

Let's look at another date, the 1900-S. I have always liked this date and think its a real "sleeper" in higher grades. PCGS has a current population of 31 in MS62 with just 16 better than this including a single coin above MS64. Given this coin's relative scarcity in Uncirculated, you'd figure it would have a pretty decent premium above the 1894, right? In MS62, current Trends is $1,100 (it jumps to a comparatively high $5,650 in MS63) and I have purchased examples in the last year for around $1,000. Now I understand that an MS62 1900-S eagle isn't going to be the Poster Child for U.S. gold coins anytime soon but it seems like awfully good value to me, given that a common, boring old 1894 in MS62 is worth around $750.

How about a date that actually has a degree of collector demand? Let's take a quick look at the 1901-O. It is one of the more available New Orleans eagles in higher grades but it has the appeal of being from a popular southern branch mint. The current PCGS population is 103 in MS62 with 61 better including just a single coin above MS64. I doubt if more than 125-150 properly graded MS62 examples exist yet current Trends is just $865 in MS62 (it jumps to $2,750 in MS63). Given the fact that a 1901-O eagle in MS62 is popular, reasonably scarce in this grade and is probably not a bad looking coin at this grade level, its very small premium above the common 1894 is fairly baffling to me.

What if someone were to promote the 1901-O in MS62? Given the fact that a year's worth of quiet, under-the-radar buying would probably only produce 40-50 coins, it hardly seems worth the effort. That said, it seems like an easy coin to promote up to the $1,250-1,500 level in MS62.

What are some of the MS62 Liberty Head eagles that I would recommend as good double-play issues? Some of the dates I like include the 1879, 1882-S, 1884, 1884-S, 1886, 1890, 1893-O, 1894-O, 1895-O, 1897-O, 1899-O, 1900-S, 1906-O, 1906-S and 1907-S.

The second type of U.S. gold coin that offers double play potential is the Type Two double eagle. But this series is different than the With Motto eagles that we discussed above. Type Two double eagles are more popular with collectors and they tend to be be rare to very rare in Uncirculated grades.

The base line issue for this type is the 1873 Open 3. It has an original mintage figure of over 1,000,000 and a high survival rate with probably more than 10,000 coins known in all grades. PCGS shows a current overall population of 4,027 of which 1,356 have been graded from AU50 to AU58.

The trading levels for AU55 to MS60 1873 Open 3 double eagles are as follows:

AU55: 1400-1500 AU58: 1500-1600 MS60: 1650-1750+

Let's look at two slightly better dates and see if the double play concept makes sense. The first is the 1867. This is a relatively popular issue with collectors that has an original mintage of just over 250,000. PCGS has graded 304 in all grades of which 131 are in the various AU grades and another 24 are in MS60. In grades above MS61 to MS62, the 1867 is extremely scarce, so nice AU's tend to be popular with specialists in the series.

The current Trends levels for the 1867 are $2,000 in AU55, $2,500 in AU58 and $4,000 in MS60. The premium in MS60 is high enough that it is not a good double-play issue. But in AU55, the premium is fairly low over the base line 1873 Open 3. My conclusion is that a nice AU55 to AU58 1867 double eagle in the $2,000-2,250 range is a great value for the double play investor-collector.

The second date is the 1872-S. This is a date that is regarded as semi-common; not quite at the level of the base line of the 1873 Open 3 but certainly nowhere as scarce as such earlier San Francisco issues as the 1866-S, 1867-S, 1869-S or 1870-S.

The mintage figure for the 1872-S is 720,000. The survival rate is quite low as most were melted over the years and I doubt if more than 2,500 pieces exist. PCGS has graded 551 in all grades including 343 in About Uncirculated. To give you an idea of this coin's rarity in higher grades, of the 52 that PCGS has graded in Uncirculated, only four are better than MS61 and none are higher than MS62.

You can buy a nice 1872-S in AU58 for around $2,000-2,250. As I mentioned above the base line for an AU58 Type Two double eagle is in the $1,500-1,600 range.

The Type Two double eagles in AU grades that I feel are good double play issues include the 1867, 1868-S, 1869, 1869-S, 1870-S, 1871, 1871-S, 1872, 1872-S and 1873-S Open 3.

The double play strategy may or may not prove to be fruitful for the hyrbrid investor-collector. But with the premiums for genuinely scarce issues like the ones mentioned above at very low levels (some of the lowest premiums that I can remeber, in fact) I think it is a strategy with minimal downside.