The 1870-S is among the scarcer Type II double eagles despite a relatively generous mintage of 982,000 pieces. Writing in the 1999 book Type Two Double Eagles: 1866-1876, Douglas Winter and Michael Fuljenz rank the 1870-S second in overall rarity among double eagles of this type and fourth rarest in high grades. The authors further highlight the conditionally challenging nature of this issue by noting that most survivors grade VF to EF, a point expounded upon by Q. David Bowers in his 2004 Guide Book of Double Eagle Gold Coins when he states, "Mint State coins are elusive and mostly in the lower number designations."

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the May 2015 New York Auction, where it realized $49,937.