1969

1857-S $20 Liberty Spiked Shield PCGS MS65

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
1857-S $20 Liberty Spiked Shield PCGS MS65
Part of the S. S. Central America shipwreck find, this is SSCA #1144 with Spiked Shield, variety 20A.

The mint at San Francisco opened for business in 1854 in response to the flood of gold bullion issuing from California's Sierra Nevada mother lodes. From gold's discovery in 1848 until the mint opened, a number of private mints operated in this part of the state. Much of the issue from San Francisco went east through various means to satisfy the needs of commerce and for use as export. Those double eagles that stayed behind in California were used a currency since the state's residents shunned paper money of any kind. This is the main reason why double eagles are found circulated (often heavily so) and only rarely in fresh mint condition. The gleaming fresh Mint State 66 offered here is quite naturally among the finest in existence. Perhaps only a few thousand frosty original coins exist out of the original mintage. These trace to the shipwreck of the passenger liner S. S. Central America, which floundered off the East Coast in a storm late in 1857.
(#8922)