1850 $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle NGC AU58 Ex.SS Republic w/box & COA

Doug Winter: [the 1850] “is scarce in properly graded AU58”

The 1850 twenty has continuously been appreciated by numismatists, both as a first-year issue and due to its California Gold Rush roots. Despite its sizable mintage of 1,170,261, demand for the 1850 has always been strong, pushing prices upwards. There have been only 54 examples of the 1850 retrieved from the SS Republic. Those coins are now housed in NGC holders. Of those, there are 16 in AU58 with only 3 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $13,500.00 in AU58.

Gold specialist Doug Winter writes, "The 1850 double eagle is a very popular issue as it is the first collectible issue from this mint. It is reasonably available in lower grades ... but it becomes harder to locate in the middle About Uncirculated range and it is scarce in properly graded AU58. This issue is very scarce and popular in Uncirculated and it is rare in MS62, very rare in MS63 and exceedingly rare above this."

Painting of the SS Republic. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Winter discusses the strike of this issue: “New dies and extra care were employed to produce this issue, and as a result the 1850 is among the best-struck Type One double eagles. The obverse is usually seen with nearly full detail on the hair of Liberty, full radial lines in the stars, and sharply defined denticles. The reverse is also seen with a sharp strike and detail on the feathers, and at the border is often full or nearly so. The collector should be able to locate a coin with very good detail with little effort.”