Professional Coin Grading Service uses the About Uncirculated 58 grade for a coin with virtually full luster and “only the slightest friction on the highest points.”

Numismatic Guaranty Co. uses a similar definition: “Slight wear on the highest points of the design. Full details.”

The illustrated 1862 Coronet double eagle graded AU-58 by NGC offered in a May auction by Heritage represents an always-popular Civil War date. A relatively modest mintage of 92,098 at the Philadelphia Mint that year is combined with a low survival rate, as few were saved by contemporary collectors, and the date is not present in any quantity in hoards or shipwrecks.

Heritage praised the bright yellow surfaces, calling the overall presentation “most attractive,” and writing, “This impressive near-Mint specimen displays just a trace of friction on the well-detailed design elements, with a touch of softness on Liberty’s hair above the brow.”

The handsome twenty realized $28,800.

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