In high grades, the 1864 is the second rarest Civil War Liberty Head double eagle after the 1862-P. Unlike the highly-touted 1863, there aren’t quantities of this date from shipwrecks and in MS62 and above, the 1864 double eagle is a very rare coin. I recently purchased the finest known, a stunning PCGS MS65, for $282,000 and the present example is the second best 1864 that I have owned.

This is a trophy coin in the truest sense of the word as it appeals to myriad collectors: Type One double eagle specialists, Civil War collectors and connoisseurs of condition rarities. The color is excellent with attractive light to medium orange-gold overlaid with pale rose shadings which is the “right” hue for this date. The surfaces are very choice with just a few minor scuffs in the left obverse; a small area of blackish grease staining, as made, can be seen on the reverse edge at around 11:00. The eye appeal is well above-average for the date and grade and this is likely one of the four or five finest known 1864 double eagles.

A PCGS MS63 has never appeared for sale at auction. In January 2014, Heritage sold a nice PCGS MS62 with CAC approval for $52,875 in their January 2014 and Stacks Bowers just sold a PCGS MS62 with CAC approval for $47,000 in their 2014 ANA auction.

With only one finer example ever graded by PCGS (and this is in a collection and will not be sold anytime soon) this exceptional coin is, for all intents and purposes, the best 1864 double eagle available to advanced collectors. An extremely important coin!