1904-O

The 1904-O sits near the top of the With Motto New Orleans availability ladder, ranking behind only the 1903-O as the most readily encountered late-date issue from this branch. Doug Winter has emphasized that hundreds of examples surfaced from European bank holdings over the past two decades, transforming what could have been a tightly held 108,950-piece coinage into a date that mid-tier collectors can actually pursue without grade compromise. The reverse typically shows full leg detail and crisp feather tips, better production discipline than the same mint delivered through most of the 1890s, though still a step below the 1903-O's strike quality.

Surviving examples cluster heavily in the AU55 through MS62 band, where the date is easy to locate and original. MS63 turns scarce in properly graded holders, and MS64 is genuinely rare; PCGS reports only a small handful of Gems known, including one piece widely discussed as a possible branch-mint Proof or Specimen striking. Surface quality is the recurring weakness, heavily abraded fields are typical, so eye appeal varies dramatically within the same grade. Authentication for a Semi-Key New Orleans gold issue requires verifying weight at 16.718 grams against the standard tolerance, confirming specific gravity near 17.2 to rule out base-metal cores, and inspecting the "O" mintmark on the reverse below the eagle for tooling consistent with original-die placement rather than added or repunched work.

Pricing tracks the supply story. Doug Winter has handled CAC-approved MS62 and MS62+ examples in recent years, and PCGS/CAC MS63 coins have traded under $4,000 in the current market, with non-CAC pieces closer to $3,000. That accessibility makes the 1904-O a logical anchor for collectors building either the With Motto NO short set or a representative type cabinet of late-date branch-mint eagles, where higher-grade entries from siblings like the 1897-O, 1899-O, and 1906-O become disproportionately expensive. For full date-by-date context across both Type 1 and Type 2 issues, see the Liberty Head Eagle series history.