1866-S $20 No Motto MS62 NGC....

Description

1866-S No Motto Twenty, MS62
Tied for Finest Certified

1866-S $20 No Motto MS62 NGC. Small S. This legendary rarity ranks among the rarest double eagle issues in the entire Liberty Head series. Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth report an average certified grade of 48.

The still-United States of America breathed a collective sigh of relief when the horrible Civil War was officially concluded at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. With the stroke of a pen rather than a sword the "great Civil War, testing whether this nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure," was finished. That nation, of which President Lincoln spoke about so eloquently in his Gettysburg Address, had passed its longest and severest trial.

The surge in religious fervor that the conflict engendered led the Rev. M.R. Watkinson, of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, to write to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase in November 1861, suggesting that U.S. coinage should bear a reference to God. Although the first regular issue to bear IN GOD WE TRUST was the two cent piece which debuted in 1864, pattern coins exist from as early as 1861, bearing various short forms of the motto, GOD OUR TRUST and OUR TRUST IS IN GOD.

Only the U.S. coins with a larger "canvas" or surface area bore the new, finalized inscription IN GOD WE TRUST, which appeared in 1866 on the silver quarter, half dollar, and dollar, and on the gold half eagle, eagle, and double eagle.

The San Francisco Mint produced about 950,000 double eagles in 1866, but only 120,000 were the No Motto type, an anachronism produced in February 1866 from a leftover reverse die (a usual custom) before the new With Motto reverse dies arrived in March. Only San Francisco produced the 1866 variety lacking the motto. Even though the issue has a larger mintage, it was apparently saved in percentage terms in much lower numbers than the 1861-S Paquet Reverse twenties.

1866-S No Motto is a fabulously rare issue even in AU, much less in any grade approaching Mint State. As recently as 2008, no Mint State examples of the 1866-S No Motto had been certified, when Garrett and Guth wrote, "Even by today's more liberal grading standards, there are no known Mint State examples." Today, however, PCGS has graded one each as MS60, MS61, and MS62, while NGC has certified two pieces in MS60, one in MS61, and the present piece at MS62 (6/14).

The present piece shows complete, generous luster flowing from each side, with orange-gold color prevailing and ample eye appeal. The grade determinant is a couple of intersecting digs on the cheek of Liberty, not overlarge but situated on a focal point of the coin. The reverse is relatively contact-free, with a Small S mintmark likely carried over from the 1865-S issues.

This piece should incite intense fervor when it crosses the auction block, as the finest of the issue that we have offered by four grade points. It is a reappearance from our January 2012 FUN Signature sale, where it realized $218,500. An AU58 PCGS example in our 2007 FUN Signature sale, lot 3717, realized $195,500, and a similarly graded piece in our 2006 Central States Signature, lot 4217, realized $172,500.
Ex: Gait's Gulch Collection / FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2012), lot 5044.
From The Charles G. Wright Family Collection.(Registry values: N1)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 269W, PCGS# 8945, Greysheet# 9906)

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.

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