By Doug Winter – www.RareGoldCoins.com

This article is about the Ten rarest Liberty Head eagles. Notice that I didn’t say “the ten most popular” or “the ten most expensive.” Readers may be surprised that this top ten list does not include any Carson City issues (although I was tempted to include the 1870-CC) and just one from New Orleans.

In looking over the list you will note that six of the ten coins are from Philadelphia and at least one or two are probably not all that familiar to even the most advanced collector of Liberty Head gold. Most of these dates have very low original mintage figures (one, the 1875, has a mintage of just 100 business strikes!) and nearly all have remarkably low survival rates. To qualify for this list, an issue requires a total population of under 50-60 coins.

In order of their rarity, here is my list of the ten rarest Liberty Head eagles.

1. 1875:

The Philadelphia gold coinage of 1875 includes a number of issues with exceedingly low mintages. Only 400 examples of both the gold dollar and quarter eagle were produced but the survival rate is higher than expected. The three dollar is a Proof-only issue that has sold for over $100,000 since the 1970’s while the half eagle is a major rarity with probably no more than 10-12 known from the original mintage of 200. I believe that the 1875 eagle, however, is the rarest of all these impressive Philadelphia issues. I have seen it stated that as many as 12-15 are known but I believe that this figure is on the high side and that the actual number is more likely seven to nine. I have personally seen two or three that I would grade AU including Superior 6/97: 1541 and B&M 3/98: 2207 that were graded AU53 and AU50, respectively, by PCGS. The all-time auction record is $74,750 for an NGC AU55 sold as Lot 2102 in DLRC’s Richmond I auction in 2004.

Every business strike 1875 eagle (and I haven’t seen once since Heritage offered a PCGS VF35 in January 2006) is characterized by excessively abraded surfaces and inferior eye appeal. Some of the coins that have been certified as business strikes by both services are actually Impaired Proofs. Proof 1875 eagles have a different date position than business strikes and use a different reverse with the top of the second vertical stripe in the shield incomplete.

I believe that this is an extremely undervalued issue and if it were part of a more popular series it would be a $100,000++ coin. (more…)

By Doug Winter – RareGoldCoins.com

How’s the market doing for Type One double eagles? Good question and one that I feel well-qualified to answer, having been a very active participant in this market for over two decades.

We’ve had a lot of interesting external factors shape the Type One market in the last few years. Naturally, the severe economic conditions of 2007-2009 had a profound influence; especially at the high end of the market. And even if the economy had been strong there’s a chance that prices for rarities might have slowed down on their own, given the extreme rise in prices we had seen in the Type One market for the previous five years. It was natural that there would be some profit taking; what I didn’t expect was some of the forced sales we saw in 2007 and 2008.

And then there is the X factor in the Type One market: the incredible run-up in gold prices that has seen metal prices top $1,200 per ounce, and the associated pressures on supply that this has brought with it.

All that said, I’m pretty amazed at how strong this segment of the market is right now. In my mind, there is no question that most Type One double eagles valued at less than $5,000 are in greater demand than I can ever remember. I also think that prices are about as strong as I can recall for these coins. If you look at recent auction, nearly all decent quality EF45 to AU58 Type One double eagles are bringing in excess of Trends (more on pricing in a second…) and these coins are typically selling at auction to dealers; not necessarily end-user collectors.

The coins priced at $5,000-20,000 are generally quite strong as well, although not as much so as at the lower price point. The key factors for Type One double eagles in this price range are: eye appeal, eye appeal, eye appeal and the “sexiness” of the date. This is clearly a collector-oriented market and really pretty coins (i.e., those that are not excessively bagmarked, those that are not all bright and shiny and those that are well-made) are in great demand. Average and below-average quality coins still sell; especially if they are useful dates. But they do not bring the premium prices that the nice coins bring.

The real weakness in this market a few years ago was with the expensive coins. As I touched on above the reasons for this were twofold. When the world economy seemed to be melting down, people weren’t all that crazy about dropping $50,000 on a coin. And prices had risen so much on many of the key issues that many market participants wondered if certain key issues were still good values at the levels they had risen to.

Before addressing some specific areas in the market, I mentioned earlier about difficulties with pricing. Coin World Trends ability to keep up with this area in the market appears to not be as good as it was before and many Type One issues now sell for over Trends. This is particularly true with less expensive coins in circulated grades. (more…)

[CoinLink News] June 10, 2010 - Park Avenue Numismatics is pleased to announce the acquisition and sale of the one of the Finest Known examples of the rare and elusive 1854-O $20 Liberty Type 1 Double Eagle graded AU55 by NGC.

The coin, worth an estimated $650,000, was sold to a Collector attempting to complete a set of $20 Liberty Head Double Eagles. This 1854-O, Green says, “was sold to a client as an upgrade to his complete set.” Green has “handled two other 1854-O deals with him over the past decade. Moreover, his set is fast becoming one of the finest complete $20 gold sets known.” If it were registered, “it would compete with the best sets out there,” Bob declares.

“We are fortunate to be able to handle major rarities such as this and our clients’ rely upon us to continue to aggressively pursue and locate key date gold coins and assist them in completing sets and series, stated Bob Green, President of Park Avenue Numismatics.

“This example was fresh to the market and when it surfaced I went after the coin without hesitation,” Green continued. “This is the finest I’ve seen.”

Of the 3,250 originally minted only 4 have been graded AU55 by NGC with only 2 graded finer in AU58. The 1854-O Liberty Double Eagle is one of the most important rarities in U.S. numismatics and is the second rarest New Orleans Mint Double Eagle (Only behind the 1856-O) .

There are no 1854-O Double Eagles that grade MS-60 or higher, with only a handful of AU specimens available. As such demand for properly graded 54-O’s is intense according to Green. The coin is listed as one of the TOP 100 Greatest US Coins.

Park Avenue Numismatics, a Miami based rare coin firm established in 1987, specializes in Ultra Rarities, and has handled this date before including examples grading V35, XF45, AU50 and AU53 in the past decade. “Collectors contact us regularly with Key Date gold coins because of our stellar reputation in this specialized area of the market,” Green continued. Other numismatic rarities acquired recently include a 1907 $10 Indian MS67 NGC, and a collection of Pre-1908 MS68 United Stated gold coins (more…)