1861-S $20 Paquet AU55 PCGS....

In 1860, Anthony Paquet, an engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, modified the reverse design for the double eagle. The new design was very similar to the standard issue, but the reverse letters were much taller and more slender in appearance. There were also several technical variations with regard to the positioning and size of the lettering. In late 1860, the Paquet reverse became the standard design adopted for the regular-issue coinage of 1861 double eagles. Dies were shipped to the branch mints of New Orleans and San Francisco. Actual coinage on high-speed presses began in January 1861 in Philadelphia, but Mint director James Ross Snowden felt that the die would be unsuitable for high-speed production, so he recalled the new deign and ordered the Philadelphia Mint issue to be melted. The entire Philadelphia run was destroyed, with the exception of a few coins. Snowden also ordered production to cease in New Orleans and San Francisco. The order reached New Orleans in time to prevent any coinage. But because the transcontinental railroad was still several years away from completion, and the telegraph did not extend past St. Joseph, Missouri, the directive to stop coinage did not reach San Francisco until 19,250 coins had been struck, and no effort was made to recall the issue."