LIBERTY
HEAD (NO MOTTO ON REVERSE) TWENTY DOLLARS OR DOUBLE EAGLE
(1849-1866)
1856-O Double Eagle
1856-O
Double Eagle or $20 Gold
PCGS
No:
8918
Circulation
strikes Mintage:
2,250
Proofs:
1
Designer:
James Barton
Longacre
Diameter:
±34
millimeters
Metal
content:
Gold - 90%
Other - 10%
Weight:
±516
grains (±33.4 grams)
Edge:
Reeded
Mintmark:
"O"
(for New Orleans) below the eagle's tail on the
reverse.
Introduction:
The 1856-O double eagle is one of the great rarities
of the Liberty Head series. There are thought to be
fewer than 25 coins known in all grades. The known
coins range in grade from polished Very Fine to Specimen-63.
Most collectors of double eagles have given up on
this date, as the starting price for an attractive
example begins in the six figures. The Smithsonian
contains two examples, but these are permanently off
the market. Of the small number of coins known in
About Uncirculated condition, most are at least partially
prooflike. The collecting of gold coins by mintmark
did not start in earnest until decades after the 1856-O
double eagles were struck. Today, the issue is considered
a "classic." An AU-55 example sold in the
summer of 2005 for $483,000. Note: this coin is included
among the 100 Greatest U.S. Corns (Garrett and Guth
2005).
Key to Collecting:
The acquisition of an 1856-O has been the dream of
every advanced specialist in the double eagle series.
Only 2,250 pieces were struck, the smallest mintage
recorded by any New Orleans $20 coin. These quickly
passed into circulation, where most were worn down
to such grades as VF and EF. This is probably the
rarest New Orleans Mint double eagle, with fewer than
25 known, and perhaps even fewer than 20.
The 1856-O has often been compared to the 1854-O.
If one were to play "double eagle whist"
and give points for Mint State coins and, separately,
for the total number known, the I854-O, of which no
Mint State coins are known, would nave the lower score
and, thus, would be the "winner" from a
rarity viewpoint, as two Mint State 1856-Os have been
recorded. On the other hand, there seem to be a few
more circulated 1854-Os than there are of 1856-O.
The situation may be moot, for both are key issues,
both are famous, and both are eminently desirable.
Aspects of Striking: Sharply struck save
for some trivial lightness of the higher hair details.
All known high grade pieces have prooflike fields.
Die Data: Standard
four-digit logotype punch for this year. 4 obverse
dies and 2 reverse dies were shipped to New Orleans,
a generous supply considering the small coinage of
the preceding two years and the loss of the mint's
full capacity due to repairs in progress. Only one
pair of dies is known to nave struck 1856-O $20 pieces.
On the obverse die date logotype is slightly low,
with the 1 closer to a dentil than to the bust. The
figures are punched deeply into the die, resulting
in a "closed 5." On the reverse the O mintmark
is high and close to the eagle's feathers. On the
reverse the crossbar of the A (STATES) is lightly
patched. All known examples are prooflike to one degree
or another, diis being true for other New Orleans
Mint double eagles of the period— and nothing
to do winS being presentation pieces.
Number of Appearances:
22 (5%)
High Grade Condition Points: 4
Average Grade: VF-32
Auction Records:
(1) Unc: Bell 1944
(2) AU:
New England 3/77; ANA 1971
(8) EF:
Stack's 6/79; ANA 1975; Delp 1972; Stack's3/69; Shuford
1968; Stack's5/68; Paramount 2/65; Bell 1963
(11) VF:
RARCOA 4/75; ANA 1974; Gilhousen 1973; Miles 1968;
Cicero 1960; Melish 1956; Farouk 1954; Menjou 1950;
Lee 1947; Atwater 1946; Hall 1945
Comments: This date is one of the classic rarities
of the Double Eagle series and is certainly one of
the most famous and popular. It is the rarest O-Mint
$20 (although not really all that much rarer than
the 1854-O) and, except for the 1861 Paquet and 1882
business strike, it is the rarest regular issue Liberty
Head Double Eagle. In terms of number of specimens
known it is more rare than the heralded 1870-CC (although
it usually comes in higher grade than the 1870-CC)
and is about the same rarity as the proof-only 1883.
Claims by some cataloguers that less than 10 specimens
are known seem to me to be overly conservative and
I would place the number extant at 15-18. There is
one very nice uncirculated piece known that was sold
by Superior in 1980 and at least two others that grade
Almost Uncirculated, including the Eliasberg coin
which grades AU-55. The rest of the known population
grades only VF or EF. All known specimens have semi-prooflike
or prooflike fields.
1856
HISTORICAL HIGHTLIGHTS
Oregon Territory,
Feb. 22. Indians kill father and sons while
holding mother and daughter captive: Geisel Family
Massacre enrages settlers California, Feb. 22. First railroad
in slate links Sacramento and Folsom. Boston, March 26. Operation of first
steam trains in New England begins. United States, Apr. 1. Western Union
Telegraph formed to handle Western telegraphic communication. Texas. Apr. 29. First camels purchased
by U.S. Army for experimental duly in Texas arrive
(--June 16, IS57). San Francisco, May 15. Politician
James Casey lynched after murdering James King, crusading
reformist editor. Kansas Territory. May 21. Lawrence
looted and sacked by pro-slavery forces; one man killed
(-Aug. 30). Bloomington, Illinois, May 29. In
a speech. Abraham Lincoln says. "You can fool
some of the people all of the time, and all of the
people some of the lime, hut you can't fool all of
the people all of the time." Boston, May. Emulating large European
music festivals, first American festival consists
of a chorus of 600 and an orchestra of 78. Cincinnati, June 6. Democrats end
week-long national convention, nominating James Buchanan
for president and John C. Breckinridgc for vice president
(~*Nov. 4) Illinois. Sept. 21. Illinois Central
Railroad completed between Chicago and Cairo: longest
in country with 700 miles of track. Chicago. Railroad companies employ
telegraph to aid engineers and operators. Terre Haute. Indiana. T.T. Woodruff
patents three-tiered berth railroad car; Andrew Carnegie
is principal investor. Richmond, Virginia. Editorial in
Examiner is first to warn that fundamental social
and economic differences between North and South may
lead to civil conflict. New York City. Freeman Hunt, author
of Wealth ami Wurth, predicts that business will become
a form of culture.
