1865 $20 MS65 NGC. At the tail end of the Civil War, few gold coins were struck, and most were immediately hoarded and melt...

Description

Amazing Gem Mint State 1865 Double Eagle

1865 $20 MS65 NGC. At the tail end of the Civil War, few gold coins were struck, and most were immediately hoarded and melted. The mintage of this issue was 351,175 coins, and the survival rate is quite small in any Mint State grade, let alone Gem quality. This was the year of two shipwrecks, both important in numismatic circles. On July 30, 1865, the S.S. Brother Jonathan sank off the coast of Crescent City, California, in the far northern part of that state. Although many searches for the ship and its treasure took place, it was not until the 1990s that a successful recovery took place. Deep Seat Research, Inc. located the treasure, and recovered over 1,200 gold coins, mostly 1865-S Double Eagles in Mint State condition. There were also two 1865 Double Eagles from the Philadelphia Mint. About three months later, the S.S. Republic sank of the coast of Georgia, the result of a hurricane. This ship was finally located in July 2003 by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. By January 2004, over 17,000 coins had been recovered along with several hundred other artifacts.
A remarkable Type I Double Eagle with brilliant light yellow gold surfaces and exceptional mixed luster, mostly frosty but with satiny obverse fields. The obverse is covered with fine diagonal die lines, slanting down to the right, while the reverse has a few lines down to the left. Excellent surfaces with only a few trivial marks, including a small nick and faint hairlines on Liberty's cheek, along with a few other marks in the fields. The strike is sharp, and is essentially full on both sides, we do not see any apparent design weakness. The obverse has a slanting die line extending through the upper part of star 4, and into the field. The reverse has a fine die polishing line through the first three shield stripes, almost looking like an extension of the bottom edge of the eagle's wing.
A 2002 reference by Douglas Winter and Adam Crum summarized the important of this issue, and of this coin: "The 1865 double eagle is a relatively scarce date, although not nearly as much so as the 1862, 1863, and 1864. It is most often seen in Very Fine and Extremely Fine grades. It is scarce in the lower About Uncirculated grades and very scarce in properly graded About Uncirculated-55 to About Uncirculated-58. It is very rare in Uncirculated and there are just two or three currently known that grade higher than Mint State-62." Census: 2 in 65, 0 finer (11/05).(Registry values: N1)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 269U, PCGS# 8943, GSID# 9802)

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
Weight: 33.44 grams
AGW: 0.9675oz
Mintage: 351,200

Note for clients in the European Union: This lot is considered by the European Union to be “investment gold”. We believe that it meets the criteria established in Article 344(1), point (2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC and thus should be exempt from import VAT regardless of the selling price. Any questions or concerns about VAT should be addressed to your accountant or local tax authority.

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