The 1870-S Double Eagle has a high mintage figure of nearly a million coins.
 
The coin is nearly always found with a soft, somewhat ‘mushy’ strike especially true on the obverse. Liberty’s hair shows poor definition on the curls and the stars seldom show their radial lines. On the reverse, the detail at the center is seldom full.

Strike Quality, Surface Characteristics, and Eye Appeal

Many 1870-S Double Eagles have their poor strikes compounded because they show heavily bag marked surfaces. The luster tends to be a mixture of satiny bloom and Mint frost. Original, uncleaned pieces may show rose-gold or orange coloration. Locating an example of this date with good eye appeal is very difficult. The collector should be prepared to pay a strong premium for any coin which is well struck, and which has relatively few marks.