Of all American gold coins probably none is more famous than this one-of-a-kind issue. A capsule history of the piece was provided by Walter Breen in the December 1963 issue of the Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, an excerpt of which follows:

The story of the 1870-S is interesting. Telegram of May 14, 1870, received at the Philadelphia Mint from the San Francisco branch: LETTER S OMITTED ON ONE AND THREE DOLLAR DIES SENT TO THIS BRANCH FOR THIS YEAR. 2,000 PIECES COINED. CAN THEY BE ISSUED. O. H. LAGRANGE SUPT. [The 2,000 pieces were gold dollars.]

Following this is a letter dated May 27, 1870, from San Francisco Superintendent LaGrange to Director Pollock:

'I enclose herewith the receipt of Wells, Fargo & Company for one dollar and three dollar dies which were yesterday forwarded to you at Philadelphia. It is proper to state that our coiner [J. B. Harmstead] cut the letter S on the three dollar die after it was received here for the purpose of stamping a single piece to be put into the casket of the cornerstone of our new mint building. Only one piece was struck under my direction for the purpose above stated.

In the early years the San Francisco Mint conducted business in a building measuring about 60 feet square located on Commercial Street, using equipment and facilities acquired from Curtis, Perry & Ward, who earlier struck private gold coins. The cramped facilities were described in a report by the director of that institution:

It is almost impossible to conceive how so much work can be well done, so much business transacted safely, in so small a space. The entrance to the business office is up a steep pair of stairs and through a dark hall rendered unwholesome by the fumes of acids and uncomfortable by the noise of machinery and the heat of the engine. The apartments of the different officers and the desks of the clerks are cramped and inconvenient, the vaults depend for their safety chiefly upon the presence of well-tried watchmen.

To remedy the confined situation a new mint structure was planned, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1870. Work was completed several years later, and in the summer of 1874 the new edifice, located at 5th and Mission streets, was ready for coinage. The structure was occupied until 1937, when the operations were transferred to a three-story marble building now (1982) known as the San Francisco Assay Office (but which today functions as a mint; limited coinage for circulation plus Proof coinage is accomplished there).

Perhaps the finest hour of the old Mint building occurred during the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906. Although the city for blocks around was burned to the ground, the Mint edifice was saved through heroic efforts of the administration and employees. A vivid accounting of the situation is described by Frank Leach, then superintendent of the facility, in his biography Recollections of a Newspaperman. Today the Mint building is used as a museum.

Although the avowed purpose for making the 1870-S $3 was to place an example in the cornerstone of the new mint building, apparently this was not done. It seems more likely that the coin, which shows numerous signs of use, was employed as a pocket piece, most probably by Coiner J. B. Harmstead. Certainly it would have had to have been someone highly placed in the organization. It was not particularly unusual for those connected with the various mints to set aside prize pieces for their own use. Indeed, at least two specimens of the 1894-S dime out of a total of 24 coins that year can be traced to Hallie Daggett, daughter of the superintendent.

How many 1870-S $3 pieces were struck? It is known that one piece was kept by the coiner, J. B. Harmstead. When his descendants offered the coin for sale in 1907 it went with a piece of yellow paper in Harmstead's script reading, 'This Three Dollar piece is a duplicate of one under the cornerstone of the San Francisco Mint and the only one in existence. J. B. Harmstead."

This may imply that the cornerstone coin no longer existed when the note was written, or that the Harmstead coin was the only one in existence.

Maurice Gould reported years ago that the cornerstone of the Mint was examined, and no 1870-S was found. If true, perhaps only one coin was struck.

From 1870 until sometime around the turn of the century, the piece apparently saw use as jewelry. The coin has a slightly pebbled appearance and also has some minor damage on the obverse rim below the bust. As noted, it may have been a pocket piece, possibly as part of a key chain or watch fob. Its numismatic value was apparently recognized around the turn of the century when, following the publication of Augustus G. Heaton's treatise on the desirability of mintmarks, numismatists began to seek them. Even by the year 1900 there was not a strong interest in mintmarks as evidenced by the fact that it was not until then that the desirability of the 1894-S dime and its existence was published. In 1894 when the rare dime was struck at the San Francisco Mint to the extent of 24 pieces, few people cared. So it was with the 1870-S $3 coin. At the time of coinage, when it was retained by J. B. Harmstead, such a piece would not have been a highly desired rarity by collectors. Obviously, Harmstead or another official acquired it casually and displayed it openly, as evidenced by its use as jewelry. In all probability, it was obtained simply by exchanging other coins of equal value for it, a procedure followed at the various mints at the time.

So far as is known, the first time the coin made a numismatic appearance and saw print was in 1907 when H. T. Van Camp of 1 Union Square, New York City, published an advertisement in The Numismatist as follows: TO GOLD COLLECTORS Here Is A Coin All Alone By Itself $3 GOLD S. MINT 1870 Never in circulation. Never before in the Market. With the Coin is an interesting little history by the Coiner who made it. If interested, address, H. T. Van Camp, 1 Union Square New York.

The coin reached the hands of William H. Woodin, one of the pioneer collectors of United States gold coins by varieties. Woodin, a Berwick, Pennsylvania industrialist, had close ties to the Treasury Department (later, in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt named him to the post of secretary of the Treasury). With well-placed connections he was able to acquire many rare United States pattern issues which had been saved by the Mint, including quantities of some. It is possible that this influence in some way led to the acquisition of the 1870-S, or, more probably, he came into contact with H. T. Van Camp who may have owned it (it is not known whether Van Camp possessed the piece or was acting as agent).

In 1911 the coin appeared at the auction of the Woodin Collection sold in March of that year by Thomas L. Elder of 32 East 23rd Street, New York City. Prominent in the advertisement for the Woodin Collec- tion was the notation:

The only complete set of three dollar gold pieces in existence, with the unique 1870 piece of the San Francisco Mint.

This is the first and last time the piece appeared for auction competition. A reserve bid of $1,000 was placed on the coin. It sold for $1,450.

During the 1920s the 1870-S is believed to have been part of the collection of Waldo C. Newcomer, of Baltimore, Maryland. In the 1930s the Newcomer coins were sold piecemeal on a consignment basis by B. Max Mehl, and the 1870-S found a new home.

Sometime around 1945 the coin was acquired by Ted and Carl Brandts. The Brandts brothers operated the Celina Coin Company in Celina, Ohio, and made quite a splash in the 1940s, primarily by running high- level advertisements emphasizing rarities.

In December 1945 the piece was advertised by the Celina Coin Company in The Numismatist and was described as follows:

The rarest United States coin. THREE DOLLAR GOLD PIECE 1870 SAN FRANCISCO MINT. The only coin listed as UNIQUE in the 'Standard Catalogue of United States Coins.' As far as we know, there was only one piece struck. Some claim two specimens were struck, one being in the cornerstone of the San Francisco Mint. Price on application.

Numismatically, the 1870-S is one of the most remarkable issues among American coinage. As the communication from the San Francisco Mint to the Philadelphia Mint shows, the piece was struck from an 1870 die on which the mintmark was not placed in Philadelphia. The distinguishing letter was cut into the die by hand at San Francisco. Thus, the 1870-S, possessing a mintmark unlike any other San Francisco coin, also has the distinction of possibly being the only branch mint coin of any type with an official mintmark placed on the coin at the branch mint itself, rather than at the main mint at Philadelphia.

To compare the rarity of the 1870-S would be an almost endless task, for it is unique and by very definition it is rarer than just about any other coin in existence. Might it be relevant to state, for example, that the coin is 15 times rarer than the 1804 silver dollar, an issue which has been described as "the king of American coins"?

It might be reasonable to compare it to the 1849 double eagle. After all, the 1849 double eagle is the only known specimen of its date and denomination. But, it is a pattern, not a regular issue, so perhaps if anything the 1870-S is stronger in the comparison. Of the unique 1849 double eagle Edgar H. Adams wrote in 1909:

The series [of double eagles] embraces what is regarded as one of the highest valued coins in the world — the double eagle of 1849, of which only a single specimen was made in gold. This piece is now on exhibition at the Philadelphia Mint. One collector is credited with having offered the government authorities $75,000 for the rare coin, but of course without avail...

The value of $75,000 in 1909 can be appreciated by noting that the lifetime earnings of a typical factory worker of the era might be in the range of $25,000 to $40,000, a fine home was apt to cost $2,000 to $3,000 (with mansions costing $5,000 to $10,000), and that this sum would probably have purchased in its entirety any collection of United States coins then in existence. Possessing the 1870-S $3 gold piece is the numismatic equivalent of owning the Mona Lisa. Its fame is worldwide and its rarity is unsurpassed.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the Louis E. Eliasberg United States Gold Coin Collection, where it realized $687,500.