In the Philadelphia Civil War double eagle subset, the 1861 is the only common issue while the 1862 and 1863 are rare. The 1864 is conditionally scarce while the 1865 has gone from very scarce to just “scarce” due to a number of nice pieces located in the S.S. Republictreasure.

I was offered this coin along with another 1865 double eagle graded MS61 by PCGS and in side-by-side comparison, I felt that this AU58 was a nicer coin, not to mention a better value. It is a true “Gem Slider” with just the slightest amount of friction on the high spots of the obverse keeping it from being called MS61 or better. It is likely that this is not a shipwreck coin and it displays lovely natural medium golden-orange hues with deeper contrasts on the cheek and curls.

Goldberg 9/15: 1527, graded AU58 by PCGS and approved by CAC, brought $4,994 and it was low end for the grade with numerous abrasions. A nicer PCGS AU58 example, this one not approved by CAC, sold for $6,463 as Stacks Bowers 2015 ANA: 6463.

This coin is priced at around half of what an MS61 would sell for and I don’t think you will find $5,000 worth of difference between this piece and the typical MS61 1865 double eagle.

CAC has approved 11 in this grade with 55 finer.