LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2006 October Dallas Signature Coin Auction #428  / 

3228

1866-S $20 Motto AU58 PCGS. The San Francisco Mint pro

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1866-S $20 Motto AU58 PCGS. The San Francisco Mint pro
<B>1866-S<$20> Motto AU58 PCGS.</B></I> The San Francisco Mint produced both With Motto and No Motto double eagles in this year. The Motto coins were produced by hand-punching the motto in mottoless dies with the new-style curved shield on the reverse. This piece offers subdued luster, with a minimum of contact marks. The N in the motto is lower than the I, and slants a bit to the right. The last T in TRUST is notably lower than the first, and the entire word slants downhill. It appears that the mint was economizing on obverse dies to produce as many examples as possible of the new design: More than 966,000 pieces of both kinds were produced, and the obverse of this coin shows a couple of interesting die breaks. One, fairly thick and heavy, rises from the rim at 6 o'clock through the 1 in the date and upward onto the bust truncation. Another curves through the last 6, grazing the lowest hair curl and running upward beneath the hair bun. A third runs from star 7 to the upper hair, and a couple of smaller obverse cracks are also seen. Part of the hair bun appears to be missing, evidently due to die lapping. A fascinating and historic coin.
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