A surprisingly high total of nine Type Three double eagles from the Philadelphia Mint had a total mintage of less than 10,000. The 1892 is the final one of these.

Expert’s Corner: 1892 Double Eagle

The 1892 is a personal favorite of mine, mostly due to its low mintage figure. For many years, this date was grossly undervalued. Today, it is still a good value, as are all of the lower mintage Philadelphia Type Three coins from the 1880s and 1890s. I would suggest looking for a nice uncirculated example for your set. If you have a large budget and some patience, you may even be able to acquire a superb 1892.

This is a well struck, well-made date. The hair and feather details are usually sharp, and the stars often have full radial lines. The surfaces are almost always heavily bagmarked, and this is an extremely hard coin to find with acceptable surfaces. Nearly every known example is very heavily abraded and has deep, detracting marks which impact the grade. The luster ranges from slightly proof-like to fully reflective. Not many uncleaned, original pieces are known, but the natural color on the 1892 double eagle is either a medium orange-gold hue or a lighter shade of rose-gold. The level of eye appeal tends to be below average, a result of heavily abraded surfaces as mentioned above.

Proof Rarity, High-Grade Survivors, and Exceptional MS68

There were 93 proofs struck. It is believed that 26 to 30 are known, and this figure includes a number of gems. Proofs can be easily distinguished from business-strikes by having very thin rays below TE in STATES.

A small group of exceptional business-strike 1892 double eagles was discovered at least a decade ago and then sent to NGC for grading. There were at least three or four superb pieces in this group, including one that now grades MS68 and another that grades MS67.

The 1892 is not often seen in grades below AU50, as this was an issue that didn’t see much circulation. It is scarce in the higher AU grades and rare in uncirculated (although a little more available in MS60 to MS62 than its low mintage would suggest). It is very rare in MS64 and above, with only ten known to me through the end of 2022 including one amazing coin graded MS68 by NGC.