1878-S

Coming one year into the Type 3 redesign, this San Francisco issue carried "TWENTY DOLLARS" spelled in full across its reverse, replacing the abbreviated "TWENTY D." that had defined Type 1 and Type 2. As the second-year Type 3 production from the Pacific facility, the date sits at a fulcrum moment in series chronology: 1,739,000 pieces struck for circulation, narrowly eclipsing the 1,735,000 of its 1877-S predecessor and standing as the highest-output San Francisco Liberty Head Double Eagle to that point. Output would step down sharply to 1,223,800 the following year, making the date a high-water mark for SF gold coinage emerging from the Comstock Lode and California placer streams that fed the Pacific economy.

Strike quality is where collectors confront the issue's principal flaw. Of the three Double Eagles dated 1878 (Philadelphia, Carson City, San Francisco), Douglas Winter has identified this San Francisco product as the least well struck, with softness commonly visible on Liberty's hair detail and at the centers of obverse stars. Surfaces typically show heavy abrasion from bag handling and shipboard transit, and luster runs to a soft, frosty character rather than the bold cartwheel some 1880s SF dates display. Generic supply through MS62 remains adequate for collectors building entry-level Type 3 sets; MS63 turns rare, and PCGS recognizes a single MS64 as Finest Known, which realized $43,200 in January 2020.

The Saddle Ridge Hoard, unearthed by a Northern California couple in February 2013, materially altered the date's modern supply picture. The buried cache contained 34 examples of this issue, of which 27 were gradeable, four entered Mint State holders, and one tied the previously known Finest Known. PCGS designated these coins with a special hoard pedigree, creating a parallel market track distinct from non-hoard pieces. Even with that infusion, true gem material remains effectively unobtainable, and the issue retains the high-mintage / low-MS-survival paradox endemic to Pacific-facing commercial gold. For series chronology, design context, and complete date-by-date production data, see the Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.