1865 $20 MS (PCGS#8943)
August 2023 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 5183
- 等级
- MS62
- 价格
- 96,119
- 详细说明
- Intriguing Misplaced Date 1865 Double Eagle
Recovered from the S.S. Republic
1865 Liberty Head Double Eagle. Misplaced Date. MS-62 (NGC). S.S. Republic Label.
This is an exquisite piece with exceptionally vibrant satin surfaces on both sides. No less impressive is the strike, which is razor sharp over even the most minor elements of the design. Evenly colored in light golden-honey, this solidly graded Mint State twenty will delight high grade type collectors and series specialists alike. The Misplaced Date variety adds further interest with remnants of two errant digits in the denticles below the primary digits 65 in the date. Faint remnants of what appears to be another misplaced digit are also discernible in the denticles below the primary 8.
Struck at the end of the Civil War, the 351,175 double eagles produced at Philadelphia in 1865 were immediately hoarded and many were eventually melted down while paper money circulated freely in the East. Little numismatic attention was paid to the issue since only well-heeled collectors could afford to set aside $20, a tremendous sum of money for the time. What few collectors could do so preferred purchasing Proofs. The vast majority of surviving specimens for the longest period of time were found in VF or EF condition - even Harry Bass could only muster an AU example for his impressive cabinet. That all changed in July 2003 with the discovery of the wreck of the S.S. Republicby Odyssey Marine Exploration. On October 25, 1865, the steamship Republicfoundered in a hurricane off the coast of Georgia on its way to New York from New Orleans. On board the ship was a reported $400,000 in gold and silver. Fortunately almost the entire crew and passengers were able to escape the foundering vessel before she sank to the bottom. In all, Odyssey Marine was able to recover over 51,000 gold and silver coins, including almost 300 1865 double eagles, almost all in Mint State, vastly changing the landscape of surviving pieces. Such large assemblages of coins offer an opportunity to examine die varieties that would otherwise be prohibitively difficult to do. In the course of reviewing the 1865 double eagles, NGC was able to discern two significant varieties, one a repunched date and the other a misplaced date. While the Repunched Date variety has only moderate interest, the Misplaced Date variety has proven to be especially desirable. For a collector seeking both a beautiful coin as well as a rich story to go with it, look no further!
Provenance: Ex S.S. Republic.
PCGS# 8943. NGC ID: 269U.
Click here for certification details from NGC.
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