Heritage World Coin Auctions
FUN Signature US Coin Sale 1251 4-6 & 8-9 Jan 2017
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Liberty Double Eagles
1885-CC $20 MS62 PCGS. Variety 1-A. Only 9,450 Liberty double eagles were struck at the Carson City Mint in 1885. This production total is considerably lower than for any other Carson City double eagle produced during the 1880s. The coins were all released into circulation at the time of issue. No double eagles were struck at Carson City between 1885 and 1889, ensuring that the small available supply circulated heavily in the regional economy. Some coins were even sent to European destinations to settle accounts in foreign trade. None were saved by contemporary collectors, as there was little numismatic interest in double eagles or branch mint issues at the time. As a result, the 1885-CC is an elusive issue today, especially in high grade. Douglas Winter, in his Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint, says the 1885-CC "is the rarest Carson City double eagle from this decade, both in terms of overall and high grade rarity." Luckily, a few XF-AU examples were discovered in European holdings in the 1980s, but the 1885-CC remains a very rare issue in Mint State.
The 1885-CC began appearing at auction at least as early as lot 689 of the Charles W. Cowell Collection (B. Max Mehl, 11/1911), "1885 Very fine, very scarce." Cowell was a collector from Denver who specialized in mintmark gold and Territorial gold issues long before either discipline became popular with Eastern collectors. The record price realized for an 1885-CC is $61,688, brought by the MS62 PCGS specimen in lot 6109 of the Baltimore Auction (Stack's Bowers, 3/2015).
The attractive apricot-gold surfaces of this impressive MS62 example show hints of light tan, and radiate soft, satiny mint luster throughout. The design elements are sharply detailed, including those on the peripheries that are often weak. A few minute marks and luster grazes are scattered about, much less so than usually seen on this typically heavily abraded date. Population: 8 in 62, 1 finer (10/16).
Ex: Dallas Signature (Heritage, 11/2007), lot 2361.
From The Renz Family Collection of $20 Gold Coins.
1885-CC $20 MS62 PCGS. Variety 1-A. Only 9,450 Liberty double eagles were struck at the Carson City Mint in 1885. This production total is considerably lower than for any other Carson City double eagle produced during the 1880s. The coins were all released into circulation at the time of issue. No double eagles were struck at Carson City between 1885 and 1889, ensuring that the small available supply circulated heavily in the regional economy. Some coins were even sent to European destinations to settle accounts in foreign trade. None were saved by contemporary collectors, as there was little numismatic interest in double eagles or branch mint issues at the time. As a result, the 1885-CC is an elusive issue today, especially in high grade. Douglas Winter, in his Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint, says the 1885-CC "is the rarest Carson City double eagle from this decade, both in terms of overall and high grade rarity." Luckily, a few XF-AU examples were discovered in European holdings in the 1980s, but the 1885-CC remains a very rare issue in Mint State.
The 1885-CC began appearing at auction at least as early as lot 689 of the Charles W. Cowell Collection (B. Max Mehl, 11/1911), "1885 Very fine, very scarce." Cowell was a collector from Denver who specialized in mintmark gold and Territorial gold issues long before either discipline became popular with Eastern collectors. The record price realized for an 1885-CC is $61,688, brought by the MS62 PCGS specimen in lot 6109 of the Baltimore Auction (Stack's Bowers, 3/2015).
The attractive apricot-gold surfaces of this impressive MS62 example show hints of light tan, and radiate soft, satiny mint luster throughout. The design elements are sharply detailed, including those on the peripheries that are often weak. A few minute marks and luster grazes are scattered about, much less so than usually seen on this typically heavily abraded date. Population: 8 in 62, 1 finer (10/16).
Ex: Dallas Signature (Heritage, 11/2007), lot 2361.
From The Renz Family Collection of $20 Gold Coins.