1857-O Coronet Double Eagle
NGC Graded MS-62 PL

5086627-007

Only 30,000 double eagles were coined by the New Orleans Mint for 1857, and absolutely no thought was given to preserving examples by the collecting community of that time. Twenty dollars was a lot of money to tie up in a coin that would not increase in value for generations. So little interest was shown in this series that not even proofs of the double eagle are known with the date 1857.

This 1857-O twenty-dollar piece is just as described in Walter Breen's mammoth encyclopedia of U. S. and colonial coins. It has a thin, shallow mintmark and a few rust pits in the obverse die just to the left of Liberty's ear. These features are easily studied, as this remarkable coin is one of a very few mint state examples known and the very finest one certified by NGC (as of April 2004).

Well struck and free of serious marks, this lovely coin blends prooflike reflectivity and frosty luster. It may ultimately prove to be the finest surviving example, but this remains to be seen, as Republic is still revealing her secrets.

Numismatic Conservation Services and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation have been awarded the exclusive contract to conserve and grade the thousands of coins being recovered from the 1865 shipwreck of S. S. Republic. These gold and silver coins are being brought to the surface by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. of Tampa, Florida. Some of the highlights from this ongoing operation are featured here to showcase the work performed by NCS to professionally conserve these treasures and by NGC to certify and encapsulate them for longterm preservation.

CONSULT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COINS AND THE WRECK OF THE S.S. REPUBLIC::

shipwreck.net
www.ngccoin.com
www.ncscoin.com
www.kagins.com
www.money.org