1857-S $20 SSCA (1857-S Double Eagle SS Central America) PCGS MS63 CAC. Bright mint luster radiates from this shipwrecked 1857-S Double Eagle. Two bag marks, one on Libertys cheek and the other on her neck, and a couple of small scrapes keep this coin from a higher mint state grade. The grade of MS63 is confirmed by CAC. The strike is full and strong on both sides with every detail easy to observe. James B. Longacres design for the double eagle shows a Liberty head facing left wearing coronet inscribed LIBERTY. Her hair is tightly tied in the back with two loose curls hanging down her neck to the end of the truncation. She is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars with the date below. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin.

The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with elaborate ribbons on both sides of the shield extending from the top corner down to the eagles tail feathers. The ribbons are inscribed, on the left E PLURIBUS and UNUM on the right. The ribbons were added to the design to symbolize the denomination since this was the first twenty dollar coin. There is an oval of thirteen stars above the eagles head and an arc of rays from wing tip to wing tip behind the upper half of the oval. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc above the eagle, and the denomination TWENTY D. is below. The mint mark is between the tail feathers and the N of TWENTY.

Until the discovery of the 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 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.

Now Mint the state 1857-S double eagle as well as other dates from the Central America are available today encapsulated and authenticated by the two major grading services. The present coin is such an example.

In its population report, for this variety, the Spiked Shield, CAC shows 86 confirmed in all grades.