The 1870-S is a numismatically significant coin as it is the final regular issue gold dollar made at the San Francisco mint. Just 3,000 were produced and this issue is usually seen in the lower AU grades. It is very scarce in properly graded MS62 and rare in MS63 and higher. The best I have seen is a PCGS MS65 that was sold as Heritage 7/03: 10089; this coin sold for $16,100.

This example is one of the most pleasing MS62 gold dollars from this mint–of any date–which I have seen. It is frosty and well impressed with pleasing soft orange-gold and greenish hues atop very clean surfaces. There are just a few handling marksin the fields but the naked-eye appearance is suggestive of a coin which grades at least a point higher.

The last PCGS MS62 example to sell at auction was Heritage 1/09: 5151, which brought $5,175. This coin was not approved CAC. Before this, the last PCGS MS62 to sell at auction was all the way back in October 2000.

In my opinion, there are few series more undervalued than the gold dollars from San Francisco and in MS62 and above, these coins are truly hard to locate.

CAC has approved just this one coin in MS62; two have been approved in grades higher than this.