Lot 1700
1850 $20 Liberty. Sharpness of MS-60 but with light initials and cleaned. With this coin we begin a fabulous date and mintmark collection of double eagles. There are many coins to choose from, so collectors will want to take careful notes of the pieces that interest them, then study the coins closely to determine bids before the sale. Once this sale is completed, another opportunity of this magnitude may be many years away. An abundance of rarity is offered, condition rarities, and virtually all the key dates in grades that a collector can appreciate and aspire to own. Build your war chest of funds for this sale, you will be glad you did when the final lot crosses the auction block.
This 1850 double eagle marks the first year of the regular issue double eagles. Apparently two 1849 patterns were struck in gold, possibly others in silver or copper, some without dates from the master die (Breen's Encyclopedia). One of the 1849 double eagles resides at the Smithsonian, the other has since disappeared. The double scroll is Longacre's direct allusion to the double eagle denomination. On the original master die, Liberty's tiara was first engraved too far to the right, so LIB is over LLI. This master die was used to produce all dies for double eagle's from 1850 through 1858, then a new master die was created and used from 1859 through 1876.
At first glance, this 1850 double eagle is a nice mint state piece, however; there are minor hairlines in the fields from cleaning, and some knuckle head has faintly engraved a primitive bar-b-que in the lower left obverse field and signed his work "Jones" above and near the last star. To the naked eye this graffiti is virtually invisible, and faint even with a strong glass. Liberty's cheek is full and round, without the usual barrage of bagmarks. The fields too, are smooth and undiminished by handling marks or shipping evidence. Apparently set aside as the first of its kind, and well cared for since the day of issue. This appears to be the open 5, thin numeral variety with the broken A of STATES on the reverse. Fully struck on Liberty's hair, stars and the reverse devices too. An impressive coin that any collector will long cherish for the vibrant luster and clean surfaces.
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| Realized $1,898 |
