The 1859 is the single rarest collectable Philadelphia Type One double eagle, exceeding the better-known 1862 and 1863 issues. It is not often seen above VF-EF grades and upper range AU pieces are very rare. I doubt if more than five or six are known in Uncirculated and the finest of these is a PCGS MS62.

As is typical for the date, this piece is noticeably abraded with scuffs seen in both obverse fields; the reverse is cleaner. There is just a slight amount of wear visible on the high spots and the luster is soft, satiny and complimented by delicate natural rose-gold and orange hues. If you know this date at all, you know that eye appeal is at a premium and this 1859 is actually one of the nicer examples that I have owned in close to a decade.

Four PCGS graded AU58 1859 double eagles have sold at auction since 2008 and the best of these was a coin which I paid $23,000 for as Stacks Bowers 3/13: 2186. An inferior quality NGC AU58 sold for $14,725 as Heritage 1/14: 7060.

This date is in heavy demand among Type One double eagle specialists and it almost never comes available.