1856-O $20 MS (PCGS#8918)
August 2011 Chicago ANA - Rarities Night
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 7753
- 等级
- VF20
- 价格
- 1,175,339
- 详细说明
- 1856-O Liberty Double Eagle. Winter Variety One, the only known dies. VF-20 (PCGS). CAC. One of the curious facts on these early double eagles is that when found in mint state or with 10 points or less of wear, the surfaces are almost always quite abraded by bag handling and circulation. The present coin shows a bit more wear but this had the effect of minimizing any bagmarks from the original shipping, and awarding the coin with an attractive smooth appearance—remarkably so in fact. Notice how Liberty's cheek and neck have a satiny, orange-gold color, perfectly blending with the fields. No deep or distracting marks are present, and the eye appeal is thus <em>much higher</em> than that of most technically finer grade coins from this era. No rim bumps are present, and the striking features are typical. A bold mintmark is placed perfectly centered above the N of TWENTY on the reverse, and the diagnostic thin die crack through the D of the denomination, seen on all original examples of this rare issue. While it is always possible a few more 1856-O double eagles are awaiting discovery in coffee cans, hidden in walls, shipwrecks and whatnot -- as one was discovered in non numismatic holdings about a year ago -- the probability of new examples coming to light diminishes with each passing year.<br /> <br /> So why is this date so rare? First off the mintage was tiny with a mere 2,250 pieces struck. Although four obverse dies and two reverse dies were shipped to New Orleans, demand for the still new "double eagle" must have been lacking as quite a number of half eagles and eagles were coined at this mint in 1854, and these are widely available today. However, the double eagles were not struck in great numbers. Furthermore, the normal attrition rates greatly diminished this issue down to a tiny fraction today. In fact, between PCGS and NGC a total of 23 coins have been certified, all in grades between VF-20 and AU-58 with no mint state piec
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