A.C. Dwyer's Coin Stories

The 1858-P double eagle in The Arlington Collection is one of only three recovered that are graded mint state by NGC. At MS-62, this is tied with one other coin as the finest with the third mint state coin grading MS-61.  The other 3 examples all graded AU-58.

There were no examples recovered from the SS Central America shipwreck as that ship sunk a few months prior to the start of 1858. 

Many dealers like to say the Philadelphia double eagles from about 1855 through 1859 are some of the best values in the Type 1 double eagle market. They like to point to the higher premiums paid for branch mint double eagles of similar rarity. A quick glance at the numbers recovered from the SS Republic shipwreck and you'd have to agree with them.

Numismatist and gold coin expert Doug Winter (Douglas Winter Numismatics) has estimated that there are only between 20 to 30 uncirculated examples known to exist, and that the highest he's ever seen was graded MS-63. 

An 1858-P double eagle with good eye appeal and not heavily bagmarked can be difficult to find. The example in the Arlington Collection has great eye appeal with much of its mint luster still intact. The few scattered scuffs in the fields and face do not detract from the coin. Under magnification, there is one small spot of dirt that appears at about 5 o'clock (at the end of the hair curls), but this also does not detract from the overall eye appeal of the coin. The surfaces on the reverse are even nicer than the obverse.

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 tend to photograph darker than they appear when viewing them in person and such is the case with this example.