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1850-O $20 MS60 NGC. The 1850-O, sporting a mintage of 1850-O

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:28,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
	1850-O $20 MS60 NGC. The 1850-O, sporting a mintage of 1850-O
<B>1850-O<$20> MS60 NGC.</B></I> The 1850-O, with a mintage of 141,000 pieces, was the first double eagle struck at the New Orleans Mint. This, and its status as the first-year regular-issue twenty dollar gold piece, places it in strong demand. Most examples are in the VF-XF grade range, where a little more than 200 pieces have been certified by NGC and PCGS. An additional 150 or so coins have been certified in the various AU grade levels. Mint State 1850-Os are downright rare, as the population reports indicate. NGC has, to date, graded a mere four Uncirculated pieces, and PCGS has seen none.<BR> A perusal of <I>United States Gold Coinage: Significant Auction Records, 1990-1999,</B></I> by Jeff Garrett and John Dannreuther, Krause Publications' <I>Auction Prices Realized,</B></I> and our own records, indicates that three 1850-O Mint State double eagles appeared in public sales through the major auction houses over the past 15 years. These are listed below:<BR><BR> MS60 NGC. 2005 ANA (Heritage, 7/05), lot 10392, $37,375.<BR><BR> MS60. Dallas Bank Collection (Sotheby's/Stack's, 10/01), lot 2, $40,250.<BR><BR> MS60. The Rarities Sale (Bowers and Merena, 8/98), lot 385, $20,700.<BR><BR> An inspection of catalog photographs reveals that the 1850-O twenty dollar appearances in the Heritage and Bowers and Merena sales were the same coin, readily identified by a dark toning spot that clings to the upper part of star 2, a couple of light copper spots in the field above star 13, and a small nick on the lower part of the fifth vertical stripe in the shield. That coin also exhibited a closed 5 in the date, with the knob of the digit touching the cusp. Moreover, it showed the O mintmark flush with the eagle's tail. The Dallas Bank specimen, on the other hand, had an open 5 in the date, and the mintmark was separated from the tail.<BR> The coin we offer in this lot is of the Closed 5 variety, with