The 1862 is the second most available Civil War eagle after the 1861 but it is still a scarce coin with around 100 pieces known from the original mintage of 10,960. This date is usually seen in VF-EF grades and properly graded AU53 to AU55 examples are extremely scarce. There are two known in Uncirculated including an NGC MS64 which was recovered from the S.S. Republic.

This fresh-to-the-market example is among the nicer 1862 eagles I have handled. It shows nice warm yellow-gold color with a significant amount of natural mint luster remaining. The surfaces are much less abraded than usual for this typically baggy date. Most importantly, this coin appears to have never been dipped or processed as have most eagles of this era.

Remarkably, there were no less than four AU55 1862 eagles sold at auction in 2014. The prices realized ranged from a low of $8,519 to a high of $9,400. None were comparable to the presently offered piece, both in terms of quality or appearance.

This date has shown strong price appreciation in the last few years as it has been in demand by Civil War specialists and Liberty Head eagle collectors. I believe this strong level of demand should continue in the coming years.

CAC has approved six in this grade with four finer (all in AU58).