The 1862-S is the second rarest quarter eagle from the San Francisco mint, trailing only the extremely rare 1854-S. There were only 8,000 struck and well under 100 are known with most in the EF40 to AU50 range. I am aware of four or five in Uncirculated with the finest, by a significant margin, being the PCGS MS63+ which I purchased for $43,700 as Goldberg 2/12: 1217.

This fresh-to-the-market example is strictly “new” with no signs of rub on the high spots or luster breaks in the fields. It is struck in light yellow gold and it displays a good quality of strike with only a hint of weakness at the centers. The luster is satiny in texture and this is slightly different than the frosty texture seen on some of the other higher grade 1862-S quarter eagles. There are a few light marks in the obverse fields which limit the grade and a natural mint-made planchet void on the reverse rim above F in OF is not easy to see.

No MS60 example of this date has ever sold at auction. An NGC MS61 brought $17,625 as Heritage 1/14: 6458.

This important coin should appeal to Liberty Head quarter specialists, San Francisco gold collectors and Civil War era numismatists.