CoinFacts Descriptions From a Dozen PCGS Experts

Even though it already has more information about U.S. coins than can be found on any single site, we're adding more information to PCGS CoinFacts every day. Here are examples of the many recent contributions by our experts:

David Akers (1975/82): Scarce in all grades and extremely rare better than EF. Usually softly struck, particularly on the hair curls around Liberty's face and on the eagle's right leg. The O mintmark is very small, as it is on the 1840-O. This scarce date has the ninth-lowest average grade of any quarter eagle. I have not seen either of the Bell coins and do not have firsthand knowledge of any strictly uncirculated 1842-O quarter eagle. The best I have seen is a softly struck AU50, although I have seen a modest number of EFs.

David Hall: The 1917-S on Reverse Walking Liberty half dollar is the highest mintage of the four Denver and San Francisco Mint Walkers of 1917 and it's the easiest to find in GD and VG condition. But like all early Walkers, this date is scarce in grades Fine and above. Mint State examples are very scarce and Gems are rare.

Don Willis: Any 1794 half in XF or better is scarce. Most come damaged or in low grade. With only three coins in Mint State and three in AU58, the mystique of this first-year issue grows even stronger when you are holding a high-grade example in your hands. There are 11 different varieties for the year. The first seven aren't too difficult to find but the last four are either R7 or R8 and nearly impossible to locate. Rumor is that a large hoard of approximately 200 exists on the West Coast.

Ron Gillio: I believe there are as many as 200,000 1901-S $10 Liberties. I encountered this date on my first trip to Europe to buy coins in 1970. I went to Zurich with fellow coin dealers Mark Teller and Larry Hanks. The first coins we were shown at the bullion department of Credit Suisse were two 500-coin bags of brilliant uncirculated 1901-S $10 Liberties. That's all they were in those days...bullion coins. We told them we were looking for different dates and were then shown mixed-date bags from which we picked Carson City Mint coins and other rare dates. Unfortunately, the coins in Swiss banks are long gone and the coin departments are closed. But there were a lot of coins and we could have bought as many 1901-S $10 Liberties as we could carry.

John Love: There was a store that sold Western wear in Great Falls, Montana in the early to mid-1960s. The son of the owner advertised to buy bags of silver dollars during this time when all the bags were coming out of the Treasury. A man from Washington State brought in two bags of uncirculated 1901-S Morgans at the advertised price of $1,150 a bag, $1.15 per coin. Those were the only original bags of 1901-S dollars I ever heard of, even to this day. Even LaVere Redfield didn't have 1901-Ss and he had most of the S-Mints.

John Dannreuther: The reason Ultra High Reliefs have a look resembling .999 gold, i.e. pure gold, is that between the multiple strikings required to fully bring up the detail, the coins were dipped in nitric acid, removing the copper and silver alloy. The final striking gave this issue a hammered gold look similar to the exquisite work of the artisans of the Renaissance.

Gordon Wrubel: The 1799 is one of the key dates in the large cent series. There are two varieties, the normal date (Sheldon-189) and the overdate, 1799/8 (Sheldon-188). Both are scarce coins in all grades, and extremely rare in grades above EF. There is only one known Mint State example of either variety, the 1799 normal date graded MS61 Brown by PCGS that sold in the September, 2009 auction of the Dan Holmes collection for $977,500.

Ron Guth: In 1875, the Philadelphia Mint produced a mere 100 $10 gold pieces, making this the lowest mintage of any U.S. coin made for circulation. The number of survivors has been the source of much speculation in the past, much of it based on auction records and "gut instinct." In 1980, David Akers wrote that "...no more than 5-6 business strikes (including two of horrendously low quality) are known along with perhaps 7-8 proofs." Recent estimates have ranged from a dozen to possibly 15 known examples, making the 1875 $10 circulation strike at least as rare as the 1804 Silver Dollar. Despite its extreme rarity, the 1875 $10 is one of the most affordable coins in its class, only recently having broken the $100,000 barrier, yet falling far short of more recognized coins such as the 1804 Silver Dollar, the 1913 Liberty Nickel, and the 1894-S Dime. The 1875 $10 simply has not received the same amount of publicity as the aforementioned rarities.

According to Breen, the date on both circulation strikes and proofs is low in the space between Liberty's bust and the edge of the coin. On circulation strikes, the left base of the 1 is right of center of a denticle; on proofs, the left base of the 1 is over the left edge of a denticle and the top of the second stripe is weak on the reverse. An additional differentiating mark may be a small spike coming out of the denticles below the 7 of the date on proofs. This spike does not seem to appear on circulation strikes, but more coins should be examined in person before this spike is determined to be diagnostic.

Most 1875 Eagles feature prooflike luster in the protected areas, but virtually all show moderate to heavy bagmarks.

The National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution contains a single circulation strike which would probably grade choice Extremely Fine.

No Uncirculated example has ever been seen or rumored to exist and at least two very well worn examples are known.

Doug Winter: Two varieties are known for this year. The better known is the spectacular 1865-S Over Inverted 186. The less visually impressive Normal Date is, ironically, the rarer of the two. I regard this as the second rarest Eagle from San Francisco. I estimate that around 30-40 are known and nearly all grade EF40 or below. In fact, this one of the rarest Liberty Head Eagles from the standpoint of condition. I have never seen or heard of an Uncirculated example and I know of just three that I would call real AUs (none better than AU50 to AU53).

The quality of strike is very distinctive with soft radial lines in the stars and a slightly concave appearance on the obverse. The reverse is better struck although many examples show weakness on the neck feathers. I have never seen an 1865-S Normal Date Eagle that did not have heavily abraded surfaces and most have enough wear to lack any significant luster.

Mike Sargent: There are four mint mark positions on genuine coins. We see 5 to 10 counterfeits a week in the PCGS grading room. If you are buying a 1916-D dime, authentication is obviously highly recommended.

Jack Beymer: I have handled more 1794 dollars than I have 1878-CC Trade dollars.

Jaime Hernandez: The 1909 V.D.B. Matte Proof Lincoln Cent is by far the scarcest of all the Matte Proof Lincoln cents produced from 1909 to 1916, and also for all non-error proof Lincoln cents from 1909 to date.

Surprisingly, the 1909 V.D.B. Matte Proof Lincoln Cent is not the lowest mintage in the series; it is the third-lowest mintage. The 1915 is the second-lowest mintage, and finally, the 1916 Matte Proof Lincoln cent is the lowest mintage of this series.

Throughout the years, many 1909 V.D.B. business strike cents have been offered and described as Matte Proofs. However, an authentic 1909 V.D.B. Matte Proof Lincoln Cent will display great details and square, sharp-edged rims.

Genuine examples also will have a die marker touching the back of Lincoln's coat, which then goes across and stops right underneath the R and T of LIBERTY. Additionally, 1909 V.D.B. Matte Proof Lincoln cents will also display several die scratches in front of Lincoln's nose. Because of the large premium that these coins command, authentication is strongly recommended.

It's a mystery as to why there are fewer than 200 examples of the 1909 V.D.B. Matte Proof Lincoln cents accounted for, when coins such as the 1916 with the lowest mintage exist in higher numbers.

Perhaps the Mint destroyed some of them or possibly even gave them out as business strike coins. In 1909, when the coins were originally introduced, there was a great demand for 1909 V.D.B. cents.

Whatever the reason is, the 1909 V.D.B. Matte Proof Lincoln cents have always been highly desired. As time goes by, whatever examples do remain in existence usually make it into collectors' hands. And once they do, it is very hard for collectors to let them go, making the coins even much less available than what they already are.