1857 Mint Set with Gold

The Mint Set for 1857 marked the swan song for two of America's oldest coins - the Half Cent and the Large Cent. While fairly unpopular by the time of their discontinuation, they had nonetheless served a long career in the channels of commerce, and would form the backbone of the coin collecting hobby in the United States for much of the mid and late 19th century. For today's collector, the toughest issues will be the San Francisco silver coinage, particularly in high grade. Very little was saved from the ravages of circulation, so Mint State pieces are both expensive and rare. Five U.S. mints were very busy striking some twenty one different gold issues for 1857 and all but the low denomination Philadelphia issues will present a challenge. Heading the list would be the Dahlonega Dollar, Quarter Eagle and Half Eagle, all of which are tough. In fact, with the exception of the 1857-S Double Eagle (widely available today thanks to the discovery of the S.S. Central America shipwreck) all of the mintmarked gold is difficult. The 1857-O Double Eagle in particular is known by only a single PCGS-graded Mint State piece.

Notes: This set has bonuses. Please see the Set Composition for a listing.