1861 $20 MS(PCGS#8932)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

3165

等级

MS65

价格

725,265

详细说明

This amazing double eagle is smartly impressed with razor sharp to full strike detail throughout the design. Beautiful surfaces are vividly colored with wisps of powder blue on dominant rose-orange. They are also highly lustrous with an intense satin finish. Remarkably well preserved without so much as a single detracting blemish, this condition rarity Gem is equally well suited for a high quality type set or advanced Liberty Head double eagle collection.<p>With 2,976,453 pieces produced, the 1861 has the highest mintage of any pre-1904 double eagle, achieved to help fund the Union war effort on the outbreak of armed conflict with the South. Prior to the salvage of shipwreck treasures such as that of the S.S. <em>Central America</em>, this was the most available issue of the Type I Liberty Head design. A string of early Union defeats on the battlefield resulted in Northern banks suspending gold specie payments in December 1861. Hoarding began, an activity that probably accounts for most of the several hundred Mint State survivors of this issue. Given the popularity of the Liberty Head double eagle series with today's advanced gold specialists, even premium Choice Uncirculated examples are rare from a market availability standpoint. At and above certified MS-65, the 1861 emerges as a landmark condition rarity and, indeed, this is the first example at this level that we have offered in more than a decade. A fleeting opportunity that is sure to result in spirited bidding among astute collectors.