This is a numismatically significant issue as the first double eagle made at this mint. The 1854-S is much scarcer than its high mintage of 141,468 suggests and nearly every known example in grades above AU is a shipwreck coin sourced from the S.S. Yankee Blade.

This is an original non-shipwreck piece with enough detail to suggest a higher grade. PCGS has effectively “net graded” it on account of an old obverse scrape in the left field and a few marks to the left of the mintmark on the reverse. The surfaces retain a good deal of satiny luster and the color isalight green-gold hue with some flashes of rose in the protected areas.

The last PCGS AU50 example of this date to sell at auction was this coin (with another serial number) which brought $7,475 as Heritage 4/12: 6828. Prior to this, there had been no sales of PCGS 50′s since July 2009.

The 1854-S is the third scarcest Type One double eagle from this mint after the 1861-S Paquet and the 1866-S No Motto. Those two issues are out of the price range for many collectors, making the 1854-S a great target to focus on!