1863 $10 AU50 PCGS....

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Sold on Jul 17, 2025 for:

$45,600.00 Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder

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1863 Liberty Eagle, AU50
Low-Mintage Wartime Issue
Rare in Any Grade

1863 $10 AU50 PCGS. The economic uncertainties that accompanied the Civil War led to widespread hoarding and melting of all precious metal coinage after the government suspended specie payments in late 1861. Although gold coinage still circulated to some extent in the hard-money economy of the Western United States, it almost never appeared in everyday transactions in the East. Accordingly, the Philadelphia Mint substantially reduced mintages of all gold coinage during the war years. A minuscule mintage of 1,218 Liberty eagles was accomplished in 1863, accompanied by a small production of 30 proofs for collectors. As a cost-cutting measure, the same obverse die was used to strike both proofs and business strikes that year.

As might be expected, the 1863 Liberty eagle is a classic rarity in the series today. Few 19th century collectors could afford to set aside long date runs of ten dollar coins for their collections, and the few who could preferred to update their holdings by purchasing gold proof sets from the Mint every year. The small business-strike mintage was released into circulation, and few high-quality examples were preserved for numismatic purposes. PCGS CoinFacts estimates no more than 30 to 45 examples survive today in all grades, and Mint State coins are virtually unobtainable.

Auction appearances have been few-and-far-between over the years, and almost all Healy public offerings of the 1863 eagle were proof specimens. The business strikes only began appearing at auction in the 1930s and 1940s, when collecting large denomination gold coins first became popular in this country. One early appearance was in lot 535 of the Dr. Charles W. Green Collection (B. Max Mehl, 4/1949):

"1863 Extremely fine, nearly uncirculated, with considerable brilliant mint luster. Rare date. Only 1248 minted. Catalogs $75.00."

Note that Mehl included both proofs and business strikes in his mintage figures for the date, as numismatists of that time did not consider them separate issues. Mehl's price estimate of $75 was quite strong for the time. Of course, prices have increased exponentially over the years and recent offerings of an AU50 specimen have realized as much as $54,000 in a Stack's sale in 2021.

The present coin is an attractive AU50 specimen that shows just a touch of wear on the high points of the design elements, with almost all interior detail still intact. The pleasing orange-gold surfaces show the expected number of minor abrasions for the grade and traces of original mint luster cling to the devices. The overall presentation is most attractive for this classic Civil War rarity. This lot represents an important opportunity for the advanced collector. Population: 6 in 50, 9 finer (6/25).(Registry values: N7079)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 264B, PCGS# 8637, Greysheet# 9384)

Weight: 16.72 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper

View Certification Details from PCGS