CHOICE AU 1861-S DOUBLE EAGLE

Housed in an old NGC “fatty” holder.

As with most of the Type One Civil War dates from the San Francisco mint, the 1861-S is seen most often in EF40 to AU53 grades and it is scarce in properly graded AU58 and rare in full Uncirculated. Unlike some of the other SF dates of this era, the 1861-S hasn’t has its population in Uncirculated swelled by shipwreck finds and many of the AU58 examples I see have been processed.

This lovely “slider” has an original appearance with rich natural orange-gold color offset by deeper hues on the relief areas. It has very little actual wear and only minor friction and minimal abrasions can be seen beneath the pleasing color. I doubt if more than a handful of the slabbed AU58 1861-S double eagles show the eye appeal that this piece does.

The last NGC AU58 example with CAC approval to sell at auction realized $6,463 as 2014 ANA: 4105.

An MS61 1861-S double eagle with CAC approval and comparable eye appeal would sell for at least double the asking price of this coin and might not have the same degree of eye appeal which this lovely example shows.

CAC has approved 13 in this grade with only seven finer.