1859-O $20 (1859-O Double Eagle) NGC AU Details. Type 1 Double Eagle. This rare, branch mint 1859-O Double Eagle shows some luster still remaining within its devices. Aside from a few of the obverse stars, the strike is strong on both sides. While the hair details are a little less distinct than on later dates, the obverse is as struck. A modification was made and later issues have more obverse detail. There is sufficient separation in the lines of Libertys hair and the coronet to warrant the grade.

The New Orleans Mint was authorized in 1835 by President Andrew Jackson, hero of the battle of New Orleans. The bill that Jackson signed also authorized the mints at Charlotte and Dahlonega. William Strickland, a Philadelphia architect designed all three branch mint buildings. The New Orleans Mint building was made in the solid, bulky Greek Revival style of architecture. It was the largest of the three branch mints and located at major port of entry. Unfortunately Strickland did not account for the soft ground around the site. Because of it, the building had to undergo numerous repairs throughout its history.

Authorized to produce gold and silver, the New Orleans Mint struck quarter eagles and dimes in 1839. It operated from 1838 to 1909. In that time period 427 million silver and gold coins with the O mintmark were coined. By the mid 1850s denominations made in New Orleans included three cent silver pieces, half dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars, gold dollars, quarter eagles, three dollar pieces, half eagles, eagles, and double eagles. The first deposit was of Mexican dollars which amounted to more than 32,400 dollars. The first coins struck were Liberty Seated Dimes. Each year between the beginning of August and the end of November, the mint closed because of the annual outbreak of yellow fever.

Designed by James B. Longacre, the coin shows a handsome head of Liberty facing left, wearing a pearl-bordered coronet which is inscribed LIBERTY. It was modeled after an ancient Greco-Roman sculpture, the Crouching Venus. Thirteen six-pointed stars are around her head, and the date is below. The reverse shows the influence of Longacres training as a two-dimensional engraver. Based on the Great Seal of the United States, it has a heraldic eagle with wings spread and head facing left.

A Union shield is on its breast, and it holds arrows in its left talons and an olive branch in its right, symbolizing preparedness and peace. Thirteen stars form an oval above the eagle amidst rays of Glory. The elaborate scroll on either side of it, added to symbolize the new denomination, is inscribed E PLURIBUS and UNUM. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around the coin with the denomination written as TWENTY D. below. The mintmark is beneath the eagles tail, and dentils are around the peripheries of both sides.

With only 9,100 pieces minted, the 1859-O double eagle is a rare coin in all grades. It is estimated that only 50 to 75 pieces have survived. Unlike other dates that were once considered rare but now are much more plentiful because of their discovery in treasure ships, only two examples of this date were found in the wreckage of the S.S. Republic. None were found in the S.S. Brother Jonathan, and the S.S. Yankee Blade and S.S. Central America went down before 1859.

While NGC does not publish population numbers for details grading, they have certified only 63 1859-O double eagle coins in all conditions. PCGS has certified 38, and these numbers do not account for crossovers or resubmissions.