This is the last of the 'common' New Orleans Mint double eagles, with a mintage of 71,000 coins. All remaining double eagle issues from the Louisiana Mint are low-production rarities. Dave Bowers called this issue the 'gatekeeper to what becomes a series of hard-to-find New Orleans double eagles.' Typical examples are apt to grade XF or low in the AU grade level. Coinage dies were sent to New Orleans and San Francisco. Only obverse dies were sent to New Orleans, with reverse dies still available from those sent in earlier years. Breen recorded a doubled obverse die for this date, with the discovery coin appearing in Lester Merkin's auction of October 1966. From the Philadelphia Mint, five pairs of double eagle dies were actually sent to the San Francisco Mint in 1853, in anticipation of that facility beginning coinage operations. These coinage dies remained unused, and the first actual double eagle coinage occurred in 1854. However, it is certainly interesting to contemplate an 1853-S Liberty double eagle.