1909-S $10 MS(PCGS#8864)

February 2026 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part II

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

23034

Grade

MS65

Price

57,600

Lot Description

Simply put, this is one of the finest, most attractive, and also most intriguing examples of this conditionally challenged Indian eagle issue that we have ever handled. The finish is both outstanding and unusual in a circulation strike coin of this design type. The finely textured surfaces have a bright satin finish that is more similar to that seen in Satin Proof 1909 Indian eagles from the Philadelphia Mint than other Mint State survivors of the 1909-S that we have seen. The latter, even Gems in MS-65 and higher grades, typically have a thicker, most billowy satin finish or, less often, softly frosted luster. The color of the James A. Stack, Sr. specimen is also outstanding in a light, yet vivid golden-wheat with enhancing champagne-pink iridescence. Even many of the most intricate design elements are fully rendered and crisp from a strike that ranges from bold to razor sharp. Carefully preserved to match its expert production, the surfaces present as silky smooth and virtually pristine during in-hand viewing. So stunning and significant is this coin in a 1909-S eagle that its provenance should be preserved through future market appearances. For that reason alone, we point out a thin contact mark on the reverse, slanting up to the right just behind the leading edge of the eagle's left wing, and a star-shaped "reeding" mark from the edge of another coin on the eagle's trailing leg. Light and buried in the feathers, these provenance markers are invisible during in-hand viewing and, in any event, in no way diminish the coin's superior quality and outstanding eye appeal.<p>The San Francisco Mint produced 292,350 $10 gold eagles in 1909. This is a not overly generous total by Indian eagle standards, and it was greatly diminished by the mass melting of U.S. Mint gold coins by government order in 1937. Even so, enough survived that the issue boasts a fairly generous population by San Francisco Mint Indian eagle standards. Most are lightly to moderately worn, however, indicative of widespread commercial use for the issue in the West - a familiar story for an S-Mint eagle of this era. Prior to the late 1970s, the 1909-S was virtually unobtainable in Mint State. This situation began to change in 1976, however, when Marc Emory found a group of about 100 coins in Europe. This was followed by approximately 70 to 90 Uncirculated coins coming out of South America in 1977, as well as 49 pieces that Ron Gillio purchased from a dealer in Zurich around the same time, which coins also reportedly originated in South America. There have been additional repatriations since, but with only approximately 900 coins known (per Q. David Bowers, <em>A Guide Book of Gold Eagle Coins</em>, 2017), the 1909-S still numbers among the scarcer Indian eagles in Mint State. With most such pieces confined to lower certified grades through MS-63, this issue remains a formidable condition rarity in Gem Uncirculated.<p>Mr. Stack's acquisition of this phenomenal Gem came at a time when even a Mint State 1909-S of marginal quality was a rarity. Indeed, Dave Bowers (2017) reports:<p><em>The 1909-S (as part of all San Francisco Mint $10 1909-S to 1914-S) is very peculiar among Saint-Gaudens eagles of this era in that most circulated pieces in old-time collections average VF in grade, rather than EF or AU. This is probably because most circulated in the West, and many were obtained domestically from that area.</em><p>In his auction survey on $10 gold eagles published in 1980, David W. Akers lists only four appearances for Mint State examples of the 1909-S during the era of Mr. Stack's most active collecting: B. Max Mehl's February 1944 sale of the Belden E. Roach Collection, lot 466 ("Uncirculated; full mint luster"); our (Stack's) sale of the "J.F. Bell" (Jacob Shapiro) Collection, December 1944, lot 792 ("Uncirculated Gem"); our (Stack's) October 1947 sale of the "H.R. Lee" Collection (predominantly Eliasberg duplicates), lot 1680 ("Brilliant Uncirculated"); and Numismatic Gallery's Adolphe Menjou Catalogue, June 1950, lot 1716 ("Uncirculated"). The "J.F. Bell" coin is plated, and is distinct from that offered here; the "H.R. Lee" specimen realized $29, which matches Mr. Stack's cost for this coin as noted in his inventory and almost certainly confirms that they are one and the same. In any event, it was a very rare purchase for a Gem Mint State example in an era when most collectors had to acquire a moderately circulated 1909-S eagle.<p>Close inspection with a loupe reveals repunching along the left edge of the S mintmark on this coin. Breen reports a repunched mintmark variety for this issue in his 1988 <em>Encyclopedia</em>, #7180, but on that variety the repunching is evident along the right edge of the mintmark.