Numismatic

1854-S $10 Liberty Gold Eagle AU-53 NGC

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In 1854, the United States Mint established a branch in San Francisco to process the immense wealth of the California Gold Rush. Among the earliest major issues from this new Western facility was the ten-dollar Liberty Gold Eagle. Struck from 0.900 fine gold, this coin represents the very beginning of federal coin production in California, carrying the distinctive 'S' mintmark on its reverse to denote its origin. Only 123,826 of these ten-dollar gold pieces were minted in San Francisco during that inaugural year. This specific specimen has survived the decades in About Uncirculated condition, certified as AU-53. It contains 0.4838 troy ounces of pure gold and features the classic Liberty design on the obverse, paired with the date 1854. This coin stands as a tangible survivor of the mid-nineteenth-century American West.