1855-S $20 Broken A, Full E S.S. Central America #1 Gold Foil MS(PCGS#70040)

August 2018 ANA U.S. Coins Auction Philadelphia, PA

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

1327

Grade

AU58

Price

7,500

Lot Description

Delightful Choice AU 1855-S Double Eagle From the S.S. Central AmericaTreasure 1855-S Liberty Head Double Eagle. Variety-14A. Broken A, Full E. Gold S.S. Central America Label. AU-58 (PCGS). CAC. Lovely rose-gold surfaces with splashes of even more vivid reddish-gold highlights adorning the obverse periphery. Both sides are sharply defined throughout with much of the frosty mint luster remaining. Production of double eagles went into high gear at the San Francisco Mint in 1855 owing to the continuing influx of bullion from the region's gold fields. The 1855-S has a mintage more than six times that of the preceding freshman year, 1854, when the facility was getting started and gaining speed. Most of the 879,675 coins struck were used in commerce on the West Coast. High grade examples were once major rarities, but many of the 304 coins discovered as part of the S.S. Central Americatreasure have since been certified AU or Mint State by the major third party grading services. A smaller number of Uncirculated coins entered the market during the early 1970s from a shipwreck found off the coast of Florida but, unlike the S.S. Central Americapieces, those examples have noticeably granular surfaces from shallow immersion in seawater. Thanks primarily to the S.S. Central Americarecovery, the 1855-S is now regarded as one of the more readily obtainable Type I Liberty Head double eagles in grades above EF. The present example would do equally well in a high quality gold type or date set. Provenance: From the Paisley Acres Collection. PCGS# 70040.