1891-CC $10 Liberty Head Eagle NGC MS63

The 1891-CC gold eagle saw the largest mintage at the Carson City Mint of any gold eagle struck at that storied mint with a total of 103,732 examples. However, many circulated in the Old West, for Westerners balked at using paper money. Many other spent time in bags traveling to and from Europe, which resulted in bagmarks and grades in the MS61-MS62 range. NGC Coin Explorer writes, "MS63 examples are rare, and choice or higher coins are nearly impossible to find." NGC has graded 100 pieces as MS63 with only 11 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $11,000.00 in MS63.

The Carson City Mint, where this beauty was produced in 1891. Photo: Wikipedia.

“The 1891-CC is the most ‘common’ (not quite the right word) Carson City mint $10 Liberty in uncirculated condition,” writes David Hall. “Ron Gillio remembers buying several hundred pieces from Swiss banks in the early 1970's when gold bullion ownership was illegal in the U.S. and Swiss banks were the gold coin trading centers of the world. I believe [that] as many as 1500 to 2000 uncirculated coins exist. However, most are lower quality. PCGS has only graded a handful of examples MS64 and not even one example MS65. I have never personally seen a Gem MS65 or better specimen.”