1911-D $10 MS(PCGS#8869)

February 2026 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part II

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

23036

Grade

MS66

Price

1,800,000

Lot Description

A coin of undeniable rarity, tremendous numismatic significance, and great beauty - this is the finest certified example of the key date 1911-D Indian eagle. It is a gorgeous premium Gem with wisps of pale powder blue and champagne-pink iridescence to dominant honey-rose color. Similar to the James A. Stack, Sr. 1909-S eagle, offered above, the finish on this coin is spectacular and unusual in a circulation strike coin of this design type. Finely textured, soft and satiny, both sides also exhibit modest semi-reflective qualities in the fields when viewed with the aid of direct lighting. Sharply struck even down to the eagle's talons on the reverse, most features are fully defined and crisp. The reverse is rotated approximately five degrees counterclockwise from normal coin alignment - an interesting feature. The level of preservation is outstanding and approaches numismatic perfection; when combined with the exceptional finish the quality suggests a specially prepared and distributed coin, at very least a specially preserved one. In any event it is an awe-inspiring condition rarity with neither peers nor superiors in a certified 1911-D Indian eagle. Exquisite!<p>The lowest mintage Indian eagle issue of the With Motto design type, the 1911-D was produced to the extent of just 30,100 pieces. Coinage commenced on April 26, 1911. The bulk of this mintage must have remained undistributed until destroyed through melting in the late 1930s, for the 1911-D is scarce even in circulated grades. Such examples constitute the majority in today's market, Q. David Bowers (2017) estimating their number at 1,000+, and these are obviously survivors of limited circulation in the American West. This issue also saw limited use in the export trade, and we believe than even an estimate of 500 coins is too generous for the 1911-D in Mint State. While the legendary 1907 Wire Rim, 1907 Rounded Rim, 1920-S, 1930-S, 1933, and even the 1911-S are rarer in terms of total number of Uncirculated coins known, the 1911-D is the leading Indian eagle condition rarity in grades of MS-65 and finer.<p>Although this issue has always been elusive, a small number of Mint State coins did find their way into numismatic hands within a few years of striking. The earliest auction appearance recorded by Q. David Bowers in his 2017 <em>Guide Book of Gold Eagle Coins</em> is lot 903 in B. Max Mehl's May 1921 sale of the Honorable James H. Manning Collection. Another coin cataloged as "Uncirculated" appeared in the great Fort Worth, Texas dealer's November 1939 sale of the William B. Hale Collection, but the two examples included in his November 1945 W.A. Philpott and Henry L. Zander Collections sale were circulated ("About Uncirculated" and "Very Fine"). The earliest offering of a Mint State 1911-D recorded by David W. Akers in his auction survey published in 1980 is the F.C.C. Boyd coin sold as lot 851 in Numismatic Gallery's January 1946 sale of "The World's Greatest Collection."<p>In more modern times, the Norweb specimen stands out as a particularly noteworthy example of this challenging issue. Described as "MS-65" by the cataloger and offered as lot 2313, it realized $132,000 in our (Bowers and Merena's) Norweb II sale of March 1988 - which stood as the record price for a 1911-D for almost 20 years. The current auction record is $195,500, claimed by the PCGS MS-65 in Heritage's January 2007 sale of the Kutasi Collection. The celebrated Indian eagle collections of Dr. Thaine B. Price, Dr. and Mrs. Stephen L. Duckor, and William Thomas Michaels all lacked a Gem Mint State coin for the 1911-D.<p>Superior to the Kutasi coin, the James A. Stack, Sr. specimen is poised to set a new record price for this key date Indian eagle issue. It is a breathtakingly beautiful premium Gem that will serve as a leading highlight in even the finest collection of Saint-Gaudens gold.