1876-S $10 AU50 Certification #49952305, PCGS #8676

Garrett and Guth's "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins 1795-1933" states, "The 1876-S eagle is difficult to obtain in any grade and is an extremely popular date because of the low mintage (tied for second lowest at the San Francisco Mint). Most of the certified examples fall into the Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated categories, with none graded at the Mint State level." Walter Breen's "Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" identifies the 1876-S eagle as "Very Rare". His book was published in 1987, probably before some repatriations which may have increased the known examples. Likewise, David Aker's Auction Analysis "Volume V - Eagles 1795-1933" (published in 1980) comments, "The mintage of the 1876-S is the second lowest from the San Francisco Mint (tied with the 1860-S) and so it comes as no surprise that this date is very rare in any condition... In terms of condition rarity, the 1876-S is near the top of the series, ranking in the top 10% of all $10 issues. The typical grade for this very rare date is VF and there are more that grade below VF than above it." His Average Grade at the time was VF24.

David Akers (1975/88)

The mintage of the 1876-S is second lowest from the San Francisco Mint (tied with the 1860-S) and so it comes as no surprise that this date is very rare in any condition. However, it is not quite as rare as the With Motto S-Mint issues immediately preceding it and it compares more closely in overall rarity to the 1855-S and 1861-S. In terms of condition rarity, the 1876-S is near the top of the series, ranking in the top 10% of all $10 issues.