1856-S $20 MS(PCGS#8919)

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

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

20024

Grade

MS63

Price

20,400

Lot Description

A gorgeous example of this popular San Francisco Mint issue with quality superior to the typically offered Mint State coin salvaged as part of the S.S. <em>Central America</em> treasure. Richly original color dominates, enhanced by full satin luster. The surfaces are impressively smooth for both the issue and the assigned grade. Boldly to sharply struck with outstanding eye appeal and extraordinary desirability.<p>Though nearly 1.2 million examples of this issue were produced, survivors are surprisingly scarce in Mint State. The recovery of 1,085 examples on the wreck of the S.S. <em>Central America</em> somewhat increased availability in the modern market, though fewer than 500 pieces are likely to exist today across all Uncirculated grades. The present offering is from an entirely different source, having entered numismatic channels long before the discovery of the <em>Central America</em> shipwreck in 1988 and the subsequent salvage of its treasure. In fact, this coin was undoubtedly one of the finest 1856-S double eagles obtainable during the era in which Mr. Stack collected, and would have remained so for many decades thereafter, probably right up to the salvage and sale of the <em>Central America</em> treasure.<p>Published in 1982, David W. Akers' classic auction survey on double eagles includes three appearances of Mint State 1856-S double eagles during the years in which Mr. Stack was actively collecting. These are B. Max Mehl's February 1944 sale of the Belden E. Roach Collection and June 1946 sale of the William Cutler Atwater Collection, lots 199 and 1347, respectively, and our (Stack's) sale of the Eliasberg Collection duplicates in the October 1947 "H.R. Lee" sale, lot 1805. While unfortunately Mr. Stack did not record when and from where he acquired this coin, and any attempt to establish its earlier provenance is based on conjecture, two of these sales are particularly intriguing to contemplate as possible sources for the Stack 1856-S double eagle. Based on confirmed provenances for other coins in this sale, we know that Mr. Stack was a buyer at the October 1947 "H.R. Lee" sale, so it is entirely possible that he also purchased this 1856-S from that auction. Alternatively, Mehl's cataloging of the Atwater coin includes the comment, "An imperceptible nick on lower left obverse." With a tiny nick before Liberty's throat and an equally trivial scuff in the field inside star 2, the Stack 1856-S double eagle could also be the Atwater coin. Regardless of its earlier provenance, which remains unknown, the Stack 1856-S continues to rank among the finest and most attractive examples of this desirable Type I Liberty Head issue available to double eagle enthusiasts.