1851 $20 SSCA (1851 Double Eagle SS Central America) PCGS Genuine. Clean surfaces, a bold strike, and bright mint luster characterize this shipwrecked 1851 Double Eagle from the S.S. Central America. The surfaces of this coin are in such good condition that one might think them worthy of an uncirculated piece. The coin has enough detail to grade a high AU with much luster remaining on its devices. The strike, especially on the reverse, is sharp and full. All of the words of the legends, the eagles feathers, and the lines of the shield are clear and easy to see.

As a result of the vast amount of gold coming from California, the 1851 double eagle had the largest mintage up to this point with over 2 million pieces struck. Large shipments of gold were sent to the East by steamer south from California and across the Isthmus of Panama to the Atlantic and then up to New York City. This gold was then shipped to Philadelphia for coinage. East of the Mississippi, most commerce was conducted using bank notes and credits. Gold coin was held by banks and sometimes used in large commercial and international transactions. Gold double eagles were exported to Europe and South America. Most coins that were sent to Europe were melted there. Ironically England, for example, used American gold coins to make English crowns.

It is interesting to note that until the discovery of the shipwrecked S.S. Central America, 1850s double eagles in gem condition were virtually unavailable. The ship, originally called the S.S. George Law, was a United States mail steamship. In 1857 it sank off the coast of the Carolinas because of a huge hurricane. It was a three-mast, side-wheel steamship that traveled between Panama and New York. The journey took approximately 21 days. In the five years prior to its sinking, it has been estimated that the Central America carried about $150 million worth of gold or one-third of all of the gold mined in California. The ship was 272 feet long and had 578 passengers and crew on board. It also had on board over 35,000 pieces of mail and gold bars, nuggets, dust, and 5200 newly minted San Francisco gold coins. The loss of the Central America triggered the Panic of 1857, which was actually caused by bank instability and generally poor economic conditions.

In 1985, the Columbus-America Discovery Group raised ten million dollars and began to search for the wreck. They found it at a depth of 8,500 feet off the coast of South Carolina. It is estimated that the total coins, ingots, and gold bars were worth more than one hundred million dollars.