About a month ago, I received an auction catalog from Olivier Chaponniere and Hess-Divo, two well-known Swiss firms located in Geneva and Switzerland, respectively. I often toss these catalogs directly into the recycling bin but thought I’d check this one out; if only because Hess-Divo has the reputation of selling some exceptional ancient and European coins. I went right to the United States gold section and started browsing.   
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With little fanfare, the 1883-O eagle has become the coin du jour in the rare date gold market. This rare date, which for years was a cult item that was seemingly overlooked by all except for a small cadre of specialists, is suddenly a coin that is bringing big bucks. What’s behind the 83-O buzz? Let’s back up a bit and discuss some background about this issue.   
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I have noticed a very interesting numismatic trend in the past few years. The coins that have shown the greatest increases in demand (and have had their prices rise accordingly) are what I term “stand alone” coins. I loosely define a stand alone coin as one whose rarity and level of interest transcends the series of which it is a part.   
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