3789

1854-O $20 Liberty PCGS VF35

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:0.00 USD Estimated At:190,000.00 - 210,000.00 USD
1854-O $20 Liberty PCGS VF35
1854-O $20 Liberty. PCGS graded VF-35. One of the key acquisitions to the double eagle series must be the extremely rare 1854-O as this year saw the mintage peter out at a mere 3,250 coins. Most were subsequently lost, spent or remelted and struck into later date coinage, the final indignity of so many of our former numismatic rarities. No single specimen exists in Mint condition, although a handful are close. This is a smoothly worn, injury-free sample of the date. The surfaces display very few of the usual (often stark) circulation marks, which highlights the fact the coin's former owners knew a thing or two about how to preserve coins from mishandling. The grade is conservative. As to the strike, we report, and the photographs rubber-stamp, that everything is boldly detailed with full hair noted on Liberty's upper curls, while the lower ones near her neck are also nicely formed. Normal wear for the VF35 grade spreads evenly across all obverse surfaces. On the reverse, there is no sign of weakness unless one wants to split hairs about a few vertical stripes in the shield which show a little shallower depth than the adjacent design, hardly a thing to make a complaint about. As so few are known in acceptable grade, we point to a small mark in the reverse field between the D. of the denomination and the final A of AMERICA as an identifying feature on this particular specimen.

If you collect Double Eagles by date and mint, if you understand the roundabout ways of the rare coin market, then waiting for a better time to take the plunge is, to put it bluntly, an unwise thing to do. History is against your finding another VF35 so choice and attractive. The astute numismatist knows this; knows that it is well to purchase the rare ones when they are offered, for they may become unavailable when the wish to buy one arises. Bid carefully if you look forward to winning this exceptional prize. Pop 1; 10 finer (PCGS # 8912) .

Historic notes: The branch mint at New Orleans began production of Double Eagles in 1850, with 141,000 coins made that year. This workload, and even higher mintages in 1851 and 1852 resulted from deposits of California gold rush gold being brought back East and South with the miners. The only options for coining this ore were the Philadelphia and New Orleans Mints in those days. Some small amounts of gold were transported to Charlotte or Dahlonega, according to archival records, but those Mints were mainly minting gold coins from locally mined ores.

A few years after this coin was made, and while it was likely still circulating in the South, an incident occurred that would forever change the way Americans view themselves. On a voyage to New Orleans down the Mississippi in 1857, the steamboat pilot, Horace E. Bixby, inspired his passenger, Samuel L. Clemens (later calling himself "Mark Twain") to pursue a career as a steamboat pilot like Bixby himself; it was a richly rewarding occupation with wages set at $250 per month -- 12½ double eagles -- equivalent to a great deal of money today. (Perhaps one of the rare 1854-O double eagles even found its way into Mark Twain's pay packet!)

A steamboat pilot needed a detailed knowledge of the ever-changing river to be able to stop at any of the hundreds of ports and wood-lots along the river banks. The 22-year-old future author meticulously began to study 2,000 miles of the Mississippi for more than two years before he received his steamboat pilot license in 1859. While training, Clemens convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him. Henry was killed on June 21, 1858, when the steamboat he was working on, the Pennsylvania, exploded. Twain had foreseen this death in a detailed dream a month earlier, which inspired an interest in parapsychology. Twain was guilt-stricken over his brother's death and held himself responsible for the rest of his life. However, he continued to work on the river and served as a river pilot until the American Civil War broke out in 1861 and traffic along the Mississippi was curtailed. He later wrote about his experiences in Life on the Mississippi. .
Estimated Value $190,000 - 210,000.