THE SOURCE FOR CHOICE AND RARE US GOLD COINS
$10.00 - 1866-S Motto PCGS AU53
$10.00 - 1866-S Motto PCGS AU53
Date…….1866-S Motto
Grade…….PCGS AU53
PCGS Price Guide.………12750
Population (PCGS).…….…....7/7
Population (NGC)..……...….8/14
Serial Number……8650.53/25039632
PCGS Lookup Number.…….8650
NUMISMATICALLY SIGNIFICANT 1866-S WM $10 GRADED AU53 BY PCGS
With Motto variety.
It is doubtful if more than five or six dozen examples of this important first-year-of-issue $10 exist in all grades, with an estimated four or five in AU55 to AU58, and not a single coin in any MS grade. While not as rare or as well-known as its counterpart the 1866-S No Motto eagle, this variety is undervalued and overlooked, in my opinion. The single finest 1866-S Motto $10 I have seen is the PCGS AU58 that brought $43,200 as Stack’s Bowers 2022 ANA: 3286.
This piece shows natural light green-gold color with reddish accents in the recesses. There are no severe abrasions as on most examples, but a few small mint-made dark spots in the obverse (two beneath the B in LIBERTY) and another at the top of the head below star nine are noticeable.
Heritage 2024 FUN: 4953 was a CAC approved PCGS 53, which I didn’t especially like and it sold for a reasonable $10,200. Stack’s Bowers 11/2022: 7241 was also graded PCGS AU53, but was not approved by CAC; I liked it and it sold for $13,200. Heritage 2/2020: 3264 was the nicest of the trio. It sold for $15,600 and was a PCGS/CAC AU53.
