1851 $20 MS(PCGS#8904)

December 2025 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part I

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

20018

Grade

MS63

Price

46,800

Lot Description

Exquisite, thoroughly PQ MS-63 quality confirms this as one of the very finest 1851 double eagles available to today's gold collectors. Lovely, full satin luster mingles with warm golden-apricot color. The surfaces are undeniably original in preservation, and are also carefully preserved without a single post-production blemish of note. What few marks and wispy hairlines are present are light and will generally require magnification to discern, leaving the in-hand appearance uncommonly smooth for both the type and the assigned grade. The somewhat more noticeable planchet flake in the right obverse field is as made and also of little, if any concern. Boldly to sharply defined overall, this Type I double eagle is a real treat both technically and visually, the kind of coin that will certainly elicit strong bids from advanced numismatists.<p>Large shipments of gold bullion from the rich fields of California continued to flow to the economic centers of the Northeast in 1851, the Philadelphia Mint achieving the highest mintage in the Liberty Head double eagle series prior to 1861 with 2,087,155 circulation strikes. Much of this bullion made the long journey from California to the Northeast by steamer south from San Francisco through the Pacific Ocean, then by land across the Isthmus of Panama, and finally by steamship in the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. Although primarily used in domestic circulation at the time, some of the mintage for the 1851 found its way overseas years later in banking transactions. Numerous examples of the date came back to the United States beginning in the mid-20th century through the diligence of coin dealers such as Paul Wittlin in the 1940s, James F. Kelly in the 1950s and, in later years, Ron Gillio, David Akers, and others who located them in Europe or South America. Repatriations such as these account for many of the Uncirculated 1851 double eagles in numismatic circles, although the number of such coins remains limited. In fact, Q. David Bowers (2004) estimates that just 50 to 80 different examples of this date exist in true Mint State grades, with the preponderance of known specimens at the low end of the Mint State scale. The James A. Stack, Sr. specimen is a newcomer to the modern market, and as one of the three highest graded currently stickered by CAC it represents nearly the finest obtainable for this issue in a PCGS holder. Outstanding!