1867

A Reconstruction-era business strike of just 3,140 pieces makes the 1867 Philadelphia eagle one of the lowest-mintage circulation issues of the entire Liberty Head $10 series. Struck in only the second year of the Type 2 With Motto subtype, the date sits at the front of a stretch of underappreciated 1866-1877 Philadelphia eagles that Doug Winter has long flagged as fundamentally undervalued, and PCGS estimates roughly 30 to 60 examples survive across all grades. With a mere two mints producing the denomination that year, the Philadelphia issue is rarer than its 1867-S counterpart yet still trades for less, an inversion the specialist market has been slow to correct.

Most surviving 1867 eagles wear honest circulation in the Fine through Extremely Fine band, and any uncirculated piece is a major condition rarity, with NGC and PCGS combined finer-than-MS60 reports in the low single digits. Authentication should begin with the standard $10 weight of 16.718 grams and a specific gravity near 17.2 to rule out struck copies and gold-plated counterfeits that miss the alloy density. Examiners should also confirm that the Type 2 motto ribbon, scroll, and arrow feathers are sharply integrated rather than tooled or re-engraved on a circulated piece, as added detail to enhance grade is a known concern on rare-date Reconstruction eagles. Surface honesty matters more than wear: rim filing, plugged areas behind the head, and old jewelry mounts visible at the obverse rim are the typical disqualifiers for problem-free certification.

Collector demand for the date is driven by Liberty eagle date-set specialists rather than type buyers, which keeps mid-grade pricing comparatively rational against the underlying rarity. An MS60 NGC example was recently offered at $25,850 by a specialist dealer, while AU material trades at meaningful but still attainable premiums for a coin with so few survivors. For a date-set collector willing to accept honest XF, the 1867 remains one of the better cost-to-rarity opportunities in nineteenth-century U.S. gold, and any choice example with original surfaces deserves serious attention. Additional context lives in the Liberty Head Eagle series history.