Spectacular $10 Gold Pieces Highlight Kingswood Auction

By Bruce Amspacher - June 5, 2000

1801 Draped Bust Eagle PCGS MS64 Reverse

Some of the most spectacular $10 gold pieces to ever appear at auction are among the highlights of the upcoming Kingswood Coin Auctions sale scheduled for June 22, 2000. The outstanding offering includes $10 gold specimens from all eras, encompassing the opening days of the 19th century through the depths of the Great Depression.

The $10 gold pieces (or “Eagles”) begin with an 1801 Draped Bust in PCGS MS64. This remarkable coin is one of only 13 pieces to achieve this lofty grade, with two others grading higher. This important type with the Large Eagle reverse was struck for only seven years (1797-1804) with no examples minted in 1802.

The next coin in the sale is equally important and even rarer! The 1839/8 $10 gold piece is of the basic “Liberty” design, but there are significant differences as well, making this a highly meaningful two-year type coin (1838-39) plus a great rarity as a date. The PCGS MS64 offered in Kingswood XIII is one of three pieces to grade MS64, with two higher.

Die specialists will enjoy viewing the 1849 $10 Liberty in PCGS AU53. It is the Double Date variety (Breen #6887) and coin encyclopedias list the coin as “prohibitively rare in AU.” There is also an 1880-S Eagle in PCGS MS64 that is tied for the finest graded with one other coin.

The 1900 $10 Liberty is the best! The example offered in Kingswood XIII is the only specimen to grade PCGS MS66, with zero higher. This date is a rarity in all gem grades, with only four pieces graded PCGS MS65 in addition to the unique MS66 in this landmark sale.

The $10 Liberty series is represented by five Proofs! There’s an 1864 in PCGS PR63, an 1890 in PCGS PR64 (one of 63 pieces struck), a 1905 in PCGS PR64, and a 1907 in PR65 that is tied for the finest graded. Rounding out this remarkable quintet is a sensational cameo 1899 in PCGS PR67 that is tied for the finest graded of the date and type!

The $10 Indian offering includes such notable coins as a 1910-D in MS66 that is tied for the finest graded, a 1911-S in MS65, a 1914-S in MS64, an incredible 1930-S in MS65, and a beautiful 1932 in MS66.

“This is a truly remarkable offering of $10 gold pieces,” noted David Hall, Chairman and CEO of Collectors Universe and one of the principals of Kingswood Coin Auctions. “There are at least 15 different specimens that deserved to be on the cover of the catalog due to their rarity or incredible condition—or both!”

Internet bidding is available now. Click here to view the auction and place your bids.

Bruce Amspacher has been a professional writer since the 1950s and a professional numismatist since the 1960s. He won the OIPA sportswriting award in 1958 and again in 1959, then spent eight years in college studying American Literature. This background somehow led him to become a professional numismatist in 1968. Since then he has published hundreds of articles on rare coins in dozens of publications as well as publishing his own newsletter, the “Bruce Amspacher Investment Report,” for more than a decade. His areas of expertise include Liberty Seated dollars, Morgan and Peace dollars, United States gold coins, sports trivia, Western history, modern literature and the poetry of Emily Dickinson. In 1986 he was a co-founder of the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).