1888

Few dates in the Type 3 Liberty Head series carry the symbolic weight of this Philadelphia issue. After a stretch in which the parent mint had effectively stopped striking the denomination for circulation, dropping all the way to the four-figure "Fab Five" outputs of 1881, 1882, 1885, and 1886, and going proof-only in 1883, 1884, and 1887, the 226,266 figure for 1888 represents the moment Philadelphia rejoined San Francisco and Carson City as a working source of business-strike double eagles. Production was driven largely by export demand and Treasury commercial flows rather than domestic circulation, which explains why so many examples eventually returned from European bank vaults.

Population data reflects that overseas storage. PCGS and NGC together have certified the issue most heavily in the MS61 to MS62 band, with MS63 examples noticeably scarcer and anything finer behaving as a true condition rarity. Coins frequently show the soft cheek and stars characteristic of late-1880s Philadelphia Type 3 production, where worn obverse dies left granular fields and slightly mushy radial detail. Reverse strike on the eagle's shield and the legend is generally sharper. The separate proof issue of 105 pieces sits in an entirely different price stratum, with surviving proofs estimated at roughly 25 to 30 examples across both services.

For collectors, CK-6563 occupies an unusual lane within the date set. It is not numerically rare in absolute terms, yet its Semi-Key classification reflects how it bookends the proof-only and Fab Five years and how thinly it is represented above MS63. The contrast with the adjacent 1889 Philadelphia (44,111 mintage) and the proof-only 1887 (just 121 struck) sharpens the case for treating this date as the comeback issue of the Philadelphia Type 3 run. For broader context on production patterns, design subtypes, and the coin's role in nineteenth-century international gold settlement, see our Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.