1901-S $10 Liberty Head Eagle PCGS MS66

This piece is a real beauty! This issue is believed to be the most common $10 Liberty eagle. Experts believe that up to 200,000 examples of the 1901-S survive today in the 21st century. The vast majority of them, about 90 percent, are uncirculated. Obviously these coins did not see much circulation and evidence tells us they were employed for international banking and trade transactions.

PCGS has graded 258 of them as MS66 with 34 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $5,500.00 in MS66.

Most of the survivors were in Swiss banks during the 1960s and 1970s, when such banks were the primary international bullion traders. At that time Liberty head eagles were considered to be a bullion coin, for there were no American Gold Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, Chinese Gold Pandas, or any other modern world bullion issues. Plus, before 1975, the only bullion coins legal for Americans to own were the Mexican 50 Pesos dated 1947 and earlier, as well as U.S. eagles and double eagles.

The San Francisco Mint, where this beauty was struck in 1901. Photo: Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons.