The 1857-S is the first of only five Type Three dollars from the San Francisco mint. Just 10,000 were struck and this date is most often found in EF40-AU53 grades. There are probably n more than a dozen or so true Uncirculated examples known with nearly all in the MS60 to MS62 range.

This fresh-to-the-market example is one of the nicer 1857-S dollars I have handled and it is certainly the best I’ve sold since the PCGS MS62 from the Vasquez Rocks collection I handled in late 2012/early 2013. It is well struck with soft rose and orange-gold color atop lustrous surfaces. It is a truly “new” coin with no major signs of rub or friction.

The last 1857-S gold dollar in MS61 to sell at auction was an NGC coin offered as Heritage 8/12: 4407. It brought $5,288 and was not approved by CAC. In Heritage’s 11/06 auction, a PCGS MS61 brought $9,200.

Compared to this, an 1857-S double eagle in Uncirculated is dirt common yet it sells for more. I can understand this but it seems to me that at current levels, Uncirculated 1857-S dollars are awfully good deals.

CAC has approved two in this grade with none finer.