1856-S $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle, variety 17L, PCGS AU53 "Ex. SS Central America"

 We at AUCM are proud to present a rarity from the tragic shipwreck of the SS Central America: 1856-S $20 Liberty, variety 17L, graded PCGS "Gold Foil" AU53. On the popularity of collecting Type 1 Liberty head double eagles (1850-1866), Doug Winter writes, "If I had to pick a single event as the impetus for the surge in interest for these coins, I would go with the discovery of the SS Central America shipwreck. I vividly remember the massive amount of interest these coins generated among collectors and non-collectors alike." There are 1,085 of this issue that were found among the ruins of the SS Central America.

Those coins began to slowly enter the collector market in 2000, and by 2001-2002 thousands of such coins were available to the numismatic community. The 1857-S was the most numerous in this shipwreck. That date was previously very rare in UNC, however thousands became available in grades as high as MS67. Coins from the Central America were well-preserved and expertly conserved before being graded by PCGS. Seemingly out of nowhere, collectors who never had the chance to possess a gem state Type One double eagle could now afford them. Doug Winter writes, "The marketing for this group of double eagles ... was masterful and hundreds of serious collectors were created. The prevailing thought was that if someone entered the market as an investor and bought a nice 1857-S double eagle from the shipwreck, by providing him with massive amounts of research and history it would be possible to create many new collectors whose interest would extend to other dates from the wreck (1855-S and 1856-S) and then onto various other issues." Before 2000, the supply of high-end Type One double eagles was very limited. "But, "writes Winter, "you had a perfect storm of increased supply coupled with increased demand not to mention a rise in gold prices and considerable mainstream interest in gold as an inflation hedge among hard money advocates."