Double
Eagles - This largest denomination of all regular United States
issues was authorized to be coined by the Act of March 3,
1849. Its weight was 516 grains, .900 fine. The 1849 double
eagle is a unique pattern and reposes in the Smithsonian.
The 1861 reverse design by Anthony C. Paquet was withdrawn
soon after being struck. Very few pieces are known.
Designer James B. Longacre; weight 33.436 grams;
composition .900 gold, . 100 copper (net weight: .96750 oz.
pure gold}: diameter 34 mm; reeded edge; mints: Philadelphia,
Carson City, Denver, New Orleans, San Francisco.
Lovely
surfaces on this beautiful Southern gold double eagle
which is considered one of the easier to obtain dates
in this New Orleans gold series. NGC population shows
70 coins graded as shown with only 26 graded higher.
1854
Double Eagle, Large Date, One of the rarest of all Philadelphia
minted double eagles. Listed in Walter Breens Encyclopedia
as Rare, usually VF-ExF, Extremely rare in Unc.
The
1857-O double eagle has long been in the shadows of the
three O-mint issues that preceded it, most notably the
1854-O and 1856-O rarities. Of the 30,000 double eagles
coined at the New Orleans facility in 1857, only a small
percentage survives.
