A.C. Dwyer's Coin Stories

1852-O Gold $20 Double Eagle

Type 1 No Motto - S.S. Republic

NGC MS61 

 SS Republic Population

Total Mintage: 190,000

Overall Rarity Ranking: 26 of 44 coins

Overall Population: approx. 920 to 1170 coins

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The Arlington Collection of Type 1 Double Eagles

The Arlington Collection of Type 1 Double Eagles

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Only 19 examples of the 1852-O double eagle were recovered from the SS Republic shipwreck. This is in comparison to over 100 examples found of its Philadelphia counterpart.

The 1852-O double eagle in The Arlington Collection is the only one recovered that is graded mint state by NGC. The other 18 all graded about-uncirculated or below, making this example the finest known from the shipwreck for this date and mint.

There were apparently four examples recovered from the SS Central America shipwreck with none of those being mint state.  The highest graded from the SS Central America was reportedly AU58. 

Numismatist and gold coin expert Doug Winter (Douglas Winter Numismatics) has estimated that there are only between 12 to 18 uncirculated examples known to exist. 

The 1852-O has the second highest mintage of any New Orleans type 1 double eagle, but is basically a toss-up with the 1851-O as being the most common and readily available of the New Orleans issues. Of course, common being a relative term here considering the 1851-O and 1852-O are considerably much more rare than their Philadelphia counterparts and therefore command much higher prices.

The 1852-O in the Arlington Collection has very nice eye appeal with lots of mint luster. The fields on the coin even appear to be somewhat proof-like. The coin has only light scuffs and abrasions to its surfaces making this a very nice coin for a grade of MS-61. None of the marks are deep or detracting from the coin's overall eye appeal. The reverse also shows some proof-like luster with no serious or detracting marks on the surfaces. 

The coloring of the coin is a nice yellow gold typical of the coins recovered from the SS Republic shipwreck. I have found that coins with lots of mint luster and proof-like surfaces tend to photograph darker than they appear when viewing them in person and such is the case with this example. 

Designer: James B. Longacre

Weight: 33.436 grams

Diameter: approx. 34mm, reeded edge

Composition: 90% gold, 10% copper/silver

PCGS Price Guide: Libery Head $20 (1850-1907)