There are four Type Two Philadelphia double eagles which are rare to very rare in Uncirculated: 1868, 1869, 1870 and 1871. The 1868 is clearly the hardest of these to find, followed closely by the 1871. Despite a fairly high population, I regard the 1870 as the next rarest and it is nearly impossible to locate above MS62. The best I have seen are a pair of PCGS MS63′s which brought $43,700 and $48,875 back in 2007.

This is the first Uncirculated 1870 double eagle which I have owned in close to four years and it is a lovely, high end coin with rich natural orange-gold, rose and greenish hues, in slightly different configurations, on the obverse and reverse. The strike is typically a bit soft at the centers but most of the details are defined; the surfaces are satiny and show scattered light scuffs consistent with the grade. The eye appeal is way above average for the date.

The last MS61 1870 double eagle to sell at auction was a non-CAC PCGS coin which brought $18,975 as Heritage 9/10: 5579. A scuffy, dipped NGC MS62 brought $29,900 in Heritage’s 4/11 auction.

The PCGS population figures for MS61 and MS62 examples of the 1870 double eagle are well-inflated due to resubmissions. This is a truly rare coin in strict Mint State and this example is likely the best one which will be available to collectors for quite some time to come.

CAC has approved just this one example in MS61 with three finer.