1852 $20 MS(PCGS#8906)

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

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

21012

Grade

AU58

Price

5,760

Lot Description

Pretty pinkish-rose iridescence enhances otherwise orange-gold surfaces. This piece is sharply struck and near-fully lustrous with only minimal signs of handling. In fact, apart from some wispy marks and a hint of friction on the obverse this is a Mint State coin. It is visually pleasing and would nicely represent both the type or issue in a high grade AU set. The mintage for the circulation strike 1852 double eagle is 2,053,026 pieces. As with most early Philadelphia Mint double eagles, the quantity struck reflects the huge influx of gold from the California gold fields that was shipped to the Northeast beginning in 1849, then growing considerably larger with each passing year. The Philadelphia mintages would begin to lessen in size, however, after the opening of the mint at San Francisco in 1854, although not to the same extent as in New Orleans. Regarding actual commercial use, most 1852 double eagles remained in the United States and were used in domestic transactions, though many were sent overseas years later.