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FUN Signature US Coin Sale 1251 4-6 & 8-9 Jan 2017
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Liberty Double Eagles
1879-O $20 AU58 PCGS. Variety 1. The New Orleans Mint opened for business in 1838 and produced a continuous stream of gold and silver coins until 1861. The series included double eagles beginning in 1850. At the dawn of the Civil War, the facility fell into the hands of state officials and then the Confederate government. A limited number of coins were minted by both groups through about April 1861, before coinage was halted entirely.
After being restored to the U.S. government at the end of the war, the New Orleans Mint remained dormant until 1879, when coinage production resumed, undoubtedly due to the need for silver dollar coinage under the Bland-Allison Act. In 1879, a limited number of double eagles were minted, just 2,325 according to mint records. They were the last coins of that denomination ever struck in New Orleans, and represent the only non-Type One issue of that mint. Those that were struck apparently entered circulation, as the date is a rarity in all grades and an extreme rarity in high grades, as the PCGS population shows. There are probably no more than 150 examples surviving in all grades, including a single harshly cleaned AU coin in the Smithsonian Institute. An early auction appearance of this date was in the Belden Roach Collection (B. Max Mehl, 2/1944), lot 196. Mehl's interesting description read, "1879 Last year of issue. Small O. Uncirculated with bright mint luster. Only the slightest evidence on obverse of having been handled with other coins. Catalogs at $115.00 but difficult to obtain even at that price."
This wonderful piece has brilliant lemon-yellow color and rose patina, with only a faint trace of highpoint wear over fully lustrous and frosty surfaces. A few minor abrasions are visible on each side, but they are entirely insignificant. Population: 5 in 58, 2 finer (10/16).
Ex: Dallas Signature (Heritage, 10/2008), lot 3087; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 5/2009), lot 1921.
From The Renz Family Collection of $20 Gold Coins.
1879-O $20 AU58 PCGS. Variety 1. The New Orleans Mint opened for business in 1838 and produced a continuous stream of gold and silver coins until 1861. The series included double eagles beginning in 1850. At the dawn of the Civil War, the facility fell into the hands of state officials and then the Confederate government. A limited number of coins were minted by both groups through about April 1861, before coinage was halted entirely.
After being restored to the U.S. government at the end of the war, the New Orleans Mint remained dormant until 1879, when coinage production resumed, undoubtedly due to the need for silver dollar coinage under the Bland-Allison Act. In 1879, a limited number of double eagles were minted, just 2,325 according to mint records. They were the last coins of that denomination ever struck in New Orleans, and represent the only non-Type One issue of that mint. Those that were struck apparently entered circulation, as the date is a rarity in all grades and an extreme rarity in high grades, as the PCGS population shows. There are probably no more than 150 examples surviving in all grades, including a single harshly cleaned AU coin in the Smithsonian Institute. An early auction appearance of this date was in the Belden Roach Collection (B. Max Mehl, 2/1944), lot 196. Mehl's interesting description read, "1879 Last year of issue. Small O. Uncirculated with bright mint luster. Only the slightest evidence on obverse of having been handled with other coins. Catalogs at $115.00 but difficult to obtain even at that price."
This wonderful piece has brilliant lemon-yellow color and rose patina, with only a faint trace of highpoint wear over fully lustrous and frosty surfaces. A few minor abrasions are visible on each side, but they are entirely insignificant. Population: 5 in 58, 2 finer (10/16).
Ex: Dallas Signature (Heritage, 10/2008), lot 3087; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 5/2009), lot 1921.
From The Renz Family Collection of $20 Gold Coins.