The 1854-S is a numismatically significant issue as the first double eagle struck at the San Francisco mint. The rarity of this date is misleading as there are some higher grades pieces known from the S.S. Yankee Blade shipwreck but an abnormally small percentage of the original 141,468 pieces struck exist. I believe it is the third rarest Type One from this mint, after the 1861-S Paquet and the 1866-S No Motto.

This is a non-shipwreck example which lacks the matte texture of the Yankee Blade coins as well as the die cracks seen on every piece from that source. It is very lustrous and has a pleasing appearance for the date with enough “meat” to suggest an AU55 grade. There are a few marks and scratches in the left obverse field which limit the grade; the reverse is choice and has nice peripheral color.

There have been just two PCGS AU53 1854-S double eagles sold at auction since 2000. The last coin brought $9,200 in Heritage’s 7/11 sale.

This is one of the most popular issues in this avidly collected series and it is almost never available in the AU50 to AU55 grade range.

SOLD