1854-O $20 AU53 PCGS. Winter-1....

Description

1854-O Liberty Double Eagle, AU53
Classic New Orleans Mint Rarity
Newly Discovered Example

1854-O $20 AU53 PCGS. Winter-1. The 1854-O Liberty double eagle is a landmark rarity in the Liberty double eagle series. Branch mint gold specialist Doug Winter notes:

"The 1854-O is, along with the 1856-O, one of the two rarest Type One double eagles from the New Orleans Mint. Examples are usually only sold at auctions which contain major 'name' collections. Ownership of an 1854-O is regarded as a hallmark of a truly great collection of Liberty Head double eagles."

The 1854-O is especially elusive in high grade and no Mint State examples are known. Heritage Auctions is privileged to present an impressive AU53 specimen of this classic branch mint rarity in this important offering.

The New Orleans Mint produced significant quantities of double eagles in the years before the San Francisco Mint opened for business in 1854, but gold deposits declined drastically at the famous southern facility after that. It was much easier and safer for the miners in the rich California gold fields to deposit their bullion at the nearby San Francisco Mint for coinage, rather than shipping the ore to New Orleans or Philadelphia. Accordingly, New Orleans mintages of double eagles were uniformly small after 1854, when a minuscule production of 3,250 coins was accomplished.

The coins circulated widely in the regional economy from the time of issue and no high-quality specimens were saved for numismatic purposes. As a result, the 1854-O is a rare coin in all grades today. PCGS and NGC have combined to certify 37 coins between them, including an unknown number of resubmissions and crossovers (7/25). No Mint State examples have been certified and PCGS CoinFacts estimates the surviving population at 35 to 40 examples in all grades. We have listed the 27 specimens we have been able to trace in the roster below.

The present coin is an attractive AU53 example that shows only light wear on the strongly impressed design elements. The pleasing orange-gold surfaces show scattered, minor contact marks on both sides, as expected for the grade, with highlights of red and green patina on both sides . Traces of original mint luster are evident in sheltered areas, and the overall presentation is most attractive. We have not been able to establish any prior provenance for this coin and believe it is completely fresh to the market. The 1854-O Liberty double eagle is listed among the 100 Greatest U.S. Coins. Population: 4 in 53, 5 finer (7/25).

Roster of 1854-O Liberty Double Eagles
This roster was compiled with the assistance of Ron Guth and the Numismatic Detective Agency.
1. AU58 PCGS. 55th Catalog (New Netherlands, 12/1960), lot 8; Dallas Bank (H. Jeff Browning) Collection (Sotheby's/Stack's, 10/2001), lot 10, $161,000; D.L. Hansen Collection.
2. AU58 NGC. Gilhousen Collection (Superior, 2/1973), lot 854; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, Part III (Bowers and Merena, 5/2000), lot 780, $103,500; ANA Signature (Heritage, 7/2005), lot 10397, $431,250; Rare Coin Wholesalers, offered on their website for $749,500 on 2/3/2020.
3. AU58 NGC. Auction '79 (Stack's, 7/1979), lot 934; ANA Building Fund Sale (Steve Ivy, 12/1981), lot 1560; Century Collection Sale (Superior, 2/1992), lot 2938; King of Siam Proof Set (Superior, 1/1993), lot 1484, $39,600; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2002), lot 4011, $92,000; Eagle Collection (Heritage, 1/2004), lot 3087, $189,750.
4. AU58 NGC. Recovered from the wreck of the S.S. Republic; Monaco Rare Coins, sold privately in 2004.
5. AU55 PCGS. Robert Marks Collection (American Auction Association, 11/1972), lot 1056; James & Margaret Carter Collection (Stack's, 3/1986), lot 528; Auction '88 (David Akers, 7/1988), lot 974; Cincinnati Collection (Heritage, 1/2005), lot 8829, $368,000Rubricic Collection (Heritage, 10/2011), lot 5099, $431,250; Charles G. Wright Family Collection (Heritage, 4/2014), lot 5793, $440,625; Bruce S. Sherman Collection, Part II (Heritage, 4-5/2025), lot 3104.
6. AU55 PCGS. Arthur C. Fritz Collection (Lester Merkin, 10/1966), lot 372; United States Gold and Silver Coins Auction (Stack's, 3/1990), lot 1362; David JeanieiChemungng Collection / Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 2/2001), lot 7079, $87,400; Close, Huntoon et al Collections (Bowers and Merena, 8/2007), lot 1906, $494,500; Baltimore Collection (Heritage, 10/2008), lot 3012, $603,750; Las Vegas Collection (Heritage, 1/2011), lot 5246, $460,000.
7. AU55 PCGS. Richmond Collection, Part I (David Lawrence, 7/2004), lot 2246, $304,750; Horseshoe Collection (Bowers and Merena, 8/2010), lot 1818, $488,750.
8. AU55 PCGS. R.L. Miles, Jr. (Stack's, 10/1968), lot 833, realized $4,000; James and Margaret Carter Collection (Stack's, 1/1986), lot 408, realized $39,600; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 2/2025), lot 3377 (note: this coin was removed from this auction and will appear in a future Heritage sale).
9. AU55 NGC. ANA Signature (Heritage, 8/2015), lot 4449, $340,750; Central States Signature (Heritage, 4/2016), lot 4815.
10. AU55 NGC. Stanley Scott Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 6/1975), lot 1129; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2014), lot 4897, $381,875.
11. AU53 PCGS. We can find no earlier provenance for this coin. The present coin.
12. AU53 PCGS. A specimen pictured on PCGS CoinFacts website that cannot be plate matched to any appearance on this roster.
13. AU53 NGC. Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 2/1994), lot 5521; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/1999), lot 8414; Pre-Long Beach Sale (Goldberg Auctions, 2/2017), lot 1337.
14. AU50 PCGS. Alex Shuford Collection (Abe Kosoff, 5/1968), lot 2412; John Jay Pittman; Pittman Collection, Part I (David Akers, 10/1997), lot 1128; Superior (6/1998), lot 2361; ANA Signature (Heritage, 8/2014), lot 5686, realized $329,000.
15. AU50 PCGS. William Van Roden Collection (Stack's, 5/1968), lot 910; Eugene Detmer Collection (Stack's, 2/1983), lot 1078; Auction '89 (RARCOA, 7/1989), lot 450; Denver Signature (Heritage, 8/2006), lot 5592; Baltimore Auction (Bowers and Merena, 11/2007), lot 4668; Central States Signature (Heritage, 4/2015), lot 5424.
16. AU50 PCGS. Amon Carter Collection (1/1984), lot 841; ANA Signature (Heritage, 8/1997), lot 7821; Mid-Winter ANA Signature (Heritage, 3/1998), lot 6507; Superior (9/1998), lot 2227; California Sale (Goldberg Auctions, 10/2000), lot 1142; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 1/2004), lot 7239.
17. AU50 PCGS. Public Auction Sale (Stack's, 6/1979), lot 586; DEA and U.S. Marshals Service Sale (Heritage, 12/1988), lot 1370; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2003), lot 4873.
18. AU50. Louis Eliasberg, Sr.; United States Gold Coin Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1982), lot 883.
19. AU50. ANA Convention Auction (Paramount, 8/1974), lot 967; ANA Convention Auction (New England Rare Coin Auctions, 7/1979), lot 427; King of Siam Sale (Bowers and Merena, 10/1987), lot 2011; Charles Kramer Collection (Superior/Stack's, 11/1988), lot 730; Auction '90 (David Akers, 8/1990), lot 1947; James E. Haldan Collection (Sotheby's, 6/1996), lot 136; Americana Sale (Stack's, 1/2008), lot 9111.
20. AU50. Josiah K. Lilly Collection; Smithsonian Institution.
21. AU Details Cleaned NGC. Fun Signature (Heritage, 1/2023), lot 3892, $216,000.
22. XF45 PCGS. CAC. Central States Signature (Heritage, 4/2021), lot 3446, $276,000; Rarities Night (Stack's Bowers, 8/2024), lot 3446, realized $312,000.
23. XF45 NGC. From an old family collection, off the market for many years; Dallas Signature (Heritage, 3/2018), lot 3192, realized $204,000; Rarities Night (Stack's Bowers, 11/2019), lot 3187.
24. XF40 PCGS. Peter J. Schemenauer Estate (Bowers and Merena, 7/2005), lot 2721.
25. XF Details Cleaned NGC. Mann and Smedley Collections (Bowers and Merena, 9/1988), lot 549; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2014), lot 5515.
26. VF30 PCGS. Two sisters with roots in Tennessee; Eldorado Sale (Stack's, 5/2009), lot 158; ANA Signature (Heritage, 8/2019), lot 3921.
27. XF Details Cleaned Net VF30 ANACS. Bell Collection (RARCOA, 4/1963), lot 843; Tollett and Pryor Collections (Stack's, 4/1971), lot 884; James and Margaret Carter Collection (Stack's, 3/1986), lot 529; James A. Stack Collection (Stack's, 11/1989), lot 1494; Rarities Sale (Bowers and Merena, 1/1999), lot 1467; Houston Signature (Heritage, 12/2008), lot 2244.

Additional Auction Appearances
(Catalogs not available for comparison or lacking sufficient detail for plate matching.)
A. Rarities Sale (Bowers and Merena, 1/2010), lot 829.
B. ANA Signature (Heritage, 8/1998), lot 5733.
C. Bullet Sale (Heritage, 4/1990), lot 596.
D. Ronald Kessler Collection (Sotheby's, 3/1990), lot 374.
E. Central States Auction (RARCOA, 4/1976), lot 420.
F. Public Auction Sale (Abner Kreisberg, 6/1969), lot 1127.
G. Arrowhead Collection (Sotheby's, 5/1987), lot 345.
H. Pacific Collection (Hughes, 2/1978), lot 1378.
I. Public Auction Sale (Abner Kreisberg, 1/1970), lot 1935.
J. Fontani Collection (Kreisberg and Schulman, 3/1965), lot 182.
K. Baldenhofer Collection (Stack's, 11/1955), lot 1511.
L. Waldo Newcomer, inventory number 973; Colonel E.H.R. Green, via B. Max Mehl, circa 1931; King Farouk, via Stack's; Palace Collections of Egypt (Sotheby's, 2/1954), lot 180; Abe Kosoff.
M. Stephen Allen Collection (Stack's, 12/1950), lot 110.
N. Menjou Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 6/1950), lot 1955.
O. Dr. Charles W. Green (B. Max Mehl, 4/1949), lot 806.
P. Memorable Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 3/1948), lot 759.
Q. Public Auction Sale (Stack's, 12/1947), lot 579.
R. Public Auction Sale (Hollinbeck Coin Co., 11/1947), lot 10.
S. Lee Collection (Stack's, 10/1947), lot 1775.
T. William Cutler Atwater, before 1923; Atwater Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1946), lot 1336.
U. F.C.C. Boyd (World's Greatest Collection, Numismatic Gallery, 1/1946), lot 938.
V. J.F. Bell Collection (Stack's, 12/1944), lot 897.
W. 444th Sale (J.C. Morgenthau, 6/1940), lot 68.
X. 399th Sale (J.C. Morgenthau, 5/1939), lot 452.
Y. Wheeler-Norton Collections (Thomas Elder, 9/1938), lot 1529.
Z. 356th Sale (J.C. Morgenthau, 12/1935), lot 237.
AA. McCaw-Bauer-Leech Collections (Thomas Elder, 1/1934), lot 1204.
BB. Nickerson-Butler-Edwards Collections (Thomas Elder,(Registry values: N10218)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 268T, PCGS# 8912, Greysheet# 9848)

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.

View Certification Details from PCGS