The 1863 is the second rarest Civil War double eagle after the 1862 and it is extremely popular collectors. It is usually seen in the EF45 to AU55 range and it is quite rare in Uncirculated with probably no more than 10-15 known.

This is the single finest 1863 double eagle I have owned in close to a decade and it is extremely high end for the grade. Both sides are totally original with nice rose and green-gold colors below a medium orange-gold. The luster is frosty and unbroken and there are far fewer marks present than one might expect for a coin graded MS61. Most importantly, this piece is truly “new” with no friction or wear on the cheek.

No MS61 examples of this date have sold since Heritage 4/12: 5332, graded by PCGS, which wasn’t CAC approved and had major stains on the reverse. The current APR for the date is $31,625 for a non-CAC PCGS coin sold as Stack’s Bowers 8/11: 7760.

This coin is not inexpensive but with decent quality AU58′s now selling in excess of $25,000 the price makes sense. If you are a serious collector of Type One double eagles, you probably need this date and you are probably tire of waiting for an Uncirculated piece to become available. If so, your time has come!

CAC has approved three in this grade with none finer.