LOT #3306 |
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1885 $20 AU58 NGC....
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Sold on May 3, 2023 for:
$60,000.00
Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder
Description
1885 Liberty Double Eagle, AU58
Classic 19th Century Gold Rarity
Only 751 Pieces Struck
1885 $20 AU58 NGC. For most of the 1880s, the Philadelphia
Mint concentrated much of its resources on producing the enormous
number of Morgan dollars mandated by the Bland-Allison Act of 1878.
The Philadelphia facility largely left the production of double
eagles to the San Francisco Mint during this decade, and small
double eagle mintages were the rule, rather than the exception,
during this time period. Accordingly, only 751 Liberty double
eagles were struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1885. Jeff Garrett
and Ron Guth discuss the 1885 double eagle in their Encyclopedia
of U.S. Gold Coins:"The mintage for the 1885 double eagle is among the lowest of all U.S. issues. Very few gold coins have a mintage below 1,000. It goes without saying that the date is extremely popular. The availability of Proof examples is the only thing keeping this issue from being extremely expensive. The Smithsonian lacks a circulation-strike example for this reason. It is estimated that there are fewer than 100 known in all grades."
PCGS CoinFacts offers a similar assessment of the surviving population at 100 examples. The majority of examples seen are in circulated grades, as few high-grade specimens were preserved for numismatic purposes. The 1885 did not appear regularly in public offerings until well after the turn of the century, but the issue became slightly more available after World War II, when a limited number of coins surfaced in European holdings. P. Scott Rubin's research has uncovered only six public offerings before 1962. An early appearance was in lot 320 of the 11th Mail Bid Sale (B. Max Mehl, 2/1909), "Twenty Dollars. 1885 P Mint. Uncirculated. Very rare. Less than a thousand issued." Recent prices realized for the issue include the $69,000 brought by an AU58 NGC example in lot 3333 of the Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 2/2022).
The present coin is an impressive near-Mint specimen that exhibits just a trace of friction on the strongly impressed design elements. Almost all interior detail remains intact. The orange-gold surfaces show the expected number of minor abrasions for a large gold coin that spent a short time in circulation and the fields show a mix of satiny mint luster and limited prooflike reflectivity in the sheltered areas. Census: 13 in 58, 18 finer (3/23).(Registry values: N4719)
Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 26BM, PCGS# 9003, Greysheet# 9821)
Weight: 33.44 grams
Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
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.
Auction Info
2023 May 3 - 7 CSNS US Coins Signature® Auction #1359 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
May, 2023
3rd-7th
Wednesday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 26
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 234
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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