1857-S $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle, 20A PCGS MS64 Ex.SS Central America

This beautiful specimen displays the rich, vibrant mint luster typical to shipwreck salvaged coins, the surfaces of which remained undiminished and unaltered by immersion in salt water. Here’s your opportunity to add a real stunner to your collection. PCGS has graded 1,106 of the 20A ‘Spiked Shield’ variety in their exclusive Gold Foil label holder as MS64, with 785 finer. Collectors Universe gives this variety a price of $12,500.00 in MS64.

A golden treasure at the bottom of the sea. Here are gold coins at 8,000 feet. Perhaps the current offering from AUCM is among those coins. Photo: PCGS.com.

The example offered by AUCM was preserved in remarkable condition. That is not surprising, considering that the 1857-S double eagle never had the opportunity to become an instrument of commerce. That is because the S.S. Central America sunk in 1857, the year the piece was struck in San Francisco.

Some may wonder how a coin, such as the current offering, could be so well preserved after sitting at the bottom of the ocean for a good 130 years. The vessel landed under 8,000 feet of water: a dark, freezing, and unwelcoming place where there was no current or disturbance whatsoever. Additionally, gold is a stable metal and contact with salt water has little effect. Even more, and most importantly, the vast majority of the coins retrieved from the ship were packed in wooden boxes that were tightly stacked, giving them even more protection from the elements.