Handsome Mint State 1869 $20 Gold Rarity
1869 Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-61 (PCGS).
An original and attractive example with handsome color to lustrous, frosty surfaces. Very well struck for the type with superior quality and eye appeal at the assigned grade level. The Type II double eagle as a whole is among the most challenging issues to obtain in high grade. The Type I double eagle is available in Uncirculated thanks in part to treasure recovered from ships like the S.S. Republic, S.S. Brother Jonathan, and most notably the S.S. Central America. Even Type III issues can be found in moderately higher grades courtesy of repatriations of large quantities from overseas as well as efforts by well-positioned and well-heeled numismatists. This is not the case with the Type II double eagle where high degrees of preservation is much more rarefied and more by chance. The 1869 double eagle is no exception. In that year, 175,130 double eagles were struck at Philadelphia with an additional 686,750 at the San Francisco Mint. While many San Francisco-produced double eagles entered the channels of commerce, those coined in Philadelphia tended to be obtained by large banks or other trading firms who used them for international commerce, shipping them in large quantities overseas. Those that remained in circulation domestically experienced the typical rigors of commercial use and are generally found in EF to AU. Large quantities of the issue ended up in the Treasury's melting pots during the 1930s, leaving even fewer behind. After the Second World War, some of the coins that were shipped overseas found their way back to the United States, but only a few turned out to be in Mint State, almost exclusively between MS-60 and MS-62. Above that level and this issue is a major condition rarity. One would be hard pressed to find a more appealing MS-62 than the offered coin from the Fairmont holdings, and it would serve equally well in a Mint State type or date set.
PCGS# 8955. NGC ID: 26A5.
PCGS Population: 21; 20 finer (MS-65 finest).
From the Fairmont Collection - Sussex Set.