The 1855-S is the rarest San Francisco eagle from the 1850′s and it is very undervalued due to the relative availability of the other early issues from this mint (namely the 1854-S, 1856-S and 1857-S). It is very scarce in properly graded EF grades and especially so with natural color and choice surfaces. Only 9,000 were struck and well under 100 exist in all grades, mainly in VF and EF.

This example has the nicest color I can recall having seen on a circulated 1855-S eagle; both the obverse and the reverse show rich orange-gold and reddish splashes with similar hues and patterns on both sides. The underlying surfaces are much cleaner than usual for this issue and there is a considerable amount of luster for a coin “only” graded EF45. I have seen inferior examples in AU50 and even AU53 holders.

The only other PCGS EF45 1855-S eagle with a CAC sticker brought $4,600 as Heritage 12/10: 4506 but it was not as choice as the current piece.

If you collect San Francisco eagles or are a specialist in the Liberty Head eagle series, you know how rare coins like this 1855-S are.

CAC has approved two in this grade and only one finer.