The only 1878-S double eagle with the Star Designation for its prooflike reflective fields.

With each new acquisition for the Grandview Collection of Liberty Double Eagles in 2013, I plan to describe the coin and relevant background information with a journal post.

I have been wanting to upgrade the 1878-S $20 in my collection for many years, but until recently could not find the right coin. There are only two 1878-S twenties with the PL designation both in MS61 (NGC Census 9/2013), so it would be unlikely to find one of them. I have looked at many 1878-S double eagles in MS62, but nearly all of them lacked eye appeal like so many early type 3 dates. When nice examples do become available, they are in high demand. One such example in a green label PCGS holder recently sold in the Heritage Long Beach auction for $11,162.50, which is nearly double the price of a typical MS62 coin.

Recently, I located an 1878-S $20 NGC MS61*. NGC has awarded the star designation to just a single 1878-S $20, which reflects the below average eye appeal of most examples. The fields on this coin are nicely reflective and definitely merit the star designation. In fact, the reflectivity is very close if not equal to that of many NGC designated PL coins. A couple of obverse abrasions, though not distracting, account for the MS61 grade, while the reverse would receive an MS62 grade on its own. Many early San Francisco type 3 double eagles are not well struck. This coin has a better strike than most showing nice obverse detail, and on the reverse, the shield lines are well defined, which is a commonly weak area on many examples.

Images of the 1878-S double eagle in the Grandview Collection are below.

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinView.aspx?PeopleSetCoinID=1599320

Grandview Collection

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=106968