1860-S G$1 MS(PCGS#7557)

1860-S G$1 MS (PCGS#7557)

December 2025 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part I

Losbeschreibung: A scarce and underrated early San Francisco Mint gold issue of which we have offered relatively few examples in recent decades. That featured here is particularly desirable with wonderfully original colors in reddish-gold and deep honey. Both sides are sharply struck with plenty of softly frosted luster remaining. While in its earliest years of coinage operations the facility was largely concerned with double eagle production - the fastest and most efficient way to convert California gold into specie - the San Francisco Mint also received calls to provide smaller denomination gold (and subsidiary silver) coins to meet the needs to local commerce in the West. These calls largely met with a lukewarm reception, as seen in the limited mintages for these denominations during the 1850s and 1860s. In 1860, for example, the San Francisco Mint struck only 13,000 gold dollars, which were eagerly accepted in, and eventually consumed by, domestic circulation in the region. Survivors are scarce throughout the numismatic grading scale, most are lightly to moderately circulated, and precious few have survived in original Choice AU preservation. This is one of the nicest that your cataloger (JLA) can recall handling over the last two and a half decades, and it is highly recommended for inclusion in an advanced collection of 19th century U.S. Mint gold coinage.