1860-S G$1 MS65 PCGS. CAC....

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1860-S Gold Dollar, MS65
The Sole Finest Known

1860-S G$1 MS65 PCGS. CAC. Ex: Duckor. Wispy pink overtones reside on the frosty light yellow surfaces of this Gem San Francisco gold dollar. This impressive Gem representative of an issue missing from the incomparable Auction '81 offering exhibits bold design motifs with minimal, grade-consistent surface marks.

Variety and Die State: Breen-6067. Normal Mintmark. A second variety appeared in the Breen Complete Encyclopedia as an Inverted Mintmark. Liberty's profile and hair show considerable roughness from a well-worn die that may have been used in previous years at the San Francisco Mint.

Population (6/15): This MS65 PCGS coin is the sole finest 1860-S gold dollar at either grading service. NGC has certified 41 Mint State 1860-S gold dollars in grades from MS60 to (five in) MS64.

Commentary: Shared reverse dies for more than one year of various denominations (lacking the date) are commonplace throughout much of the 19th century for the different branch mints. Therefore, it is unsurprising to suggest the existence of (obviously undated) shared obverse dies among the gold dollars and three dollar pieces, although the field is little studied.

The gold coins of Charlotte and Dahlonega are much more popular with general collectors than are the gold coins of San Francisco. Perhaps part of the reason is the lower overall mintages, or possibly the discontinuance of the Southern mints, while the San Francisco Mint continued to operate throughout the 1860s and beyond. However, gold dollar specialists understand the true rarity of the 1860-S. In fact, there are seven Charlotte and Dahlonega gold dollars that have higher total PCGS populations than the 1860-S.

Douglas Winter Commentary: After having produced gold dollars for five consecutive years, San Francisco production of the denomination ended after the 1860-S and resumed only in 1870 for a final run of 3,000 pieces. There were 13,000 pieces made in San Francisco in 1860; the issue is more available in higher grades than its counterparts the 1857-S, 1858-S and 1859-S. The 1860-S becomes scarce in properly graded MS63 and is rare in MS64, with around a half dozen or so properly graded pieces currently accounted for. The Duckor Collection MS65 PCGS coin is the single finest known, offered here for the first time in more than a decade. As one might expect, no other CAC-approved 1860-S gold dollars exist above MS63.

I gave Steve Duckor "first shot" at the Vasquez Rocks Collection, which I sold in late 2013. I knew Steve would be interested in at least eight to 10 of the best coins (he was) and that he would be easy to deal with (a given). When I sent him a list of possible coins by email, I was most enthusiastic about this 1860-S, letting him know it was likely the only 1860-S he would ever find that was nice enough for his set.

This coin first appeared at auction as lot 532 in the American Numismatic Rarities March 2005 sale, where it brought a strong $30,000. It reappeared less than a year later in the January 2006 ANR sale, where it sold for a more reasonable $21,850. It was purchased by the owner of the Vasquez Rocks Collection where it remained until 2013 when the coin, as part of a complete set of business strike gold dollars in MS60 and finer, was obtained by Douglas Winter Numismatics.

If you are a serious gold dollar collector or if you specialize in rarities from the San Francisco Mint, you know how important this offering is.

Provenance: Vasquez Rocks Collection; purchased from Doug Winter.
From The Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars.(Registry values: N1)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 25CT, PCGS# 7557, Greysheet# 8085)

Weight: 1.67 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper

View all of [The Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars ]

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