In 2016, I wrote a blog about Gem Type One double eagles, inspired by my purchase of a PCGS/CAC MS65 1860 double eagle which was the undisputed finest known for the date. I then asked the question “just how rare are non-shipwreck Gem Type One double eagles?” My research showed that there were only 10 or so PCGS MS65 or finer examples of the entire type which weren’t from shipwrecks. Clearly, these coins are very rare.

I recently purchased another Gem Type One double eagle (more on this in a second) which inspired me to do an update of the 2016 blog.

The coin I bought was a PCGS/CAC MS65+ 1861 double eagle. I paid $84,000 for it out of the Heritage June 2020 auction. I won it as an agent for the same collector who I purchased the MS65 1860 for around four years ago. He is working on a world-class collection of Type One double eagles and it is very likely the second finest collection of these coins after the Hansen/Crawford set.

The following chart lists every non-shipwreck Type One double eagles which has been graded MS65 or finer by PCGS which is not from a shipwreck. The coins which are italicized are new to the PCGS Census since 2016, and I will discuss each of these in brief after the chart.

    DATE
    GRADE
    NUMBER(S)
GRADED
  


    1850
    MS65
    1
  

    1854 Sm. Dt.
    MS65+
    1
  

    1855
    MS65+
    1
  

    1860
    MS65
    1
  

    1861
    MS65
    4
  

    1861
    MS65+
    1
  

    1861
    MS67
    1
  

    1861 Paquet
    MS67
    1
  

    1864
    MS65
    1
  

    TOTAL
    12
  

There are five new coins on this list but none are “new” to collectors.

1850: This is almost certainly a coin formerly graded MS65 by NGC. It last sold for $161,000 as Lot 3698 in the Heritage January 2007 auction.

1854 Small Date: This is a coin which used to grade MS65 but which was upgraded to MS65+. It is owned by collector DL Hansen and it was formerly in the collection of Dr. William Crawford.

1855: This coin is the finest known 1855 by a considerable margin. It first sold as a PCGS MS64 in the ANR March 2006 auction and it has upgraded twice: first to MS65 then, more recently, to MS65+.

1861 MS65+: This coin first sold for $78,000 as an NGC MS66 in the Heritage January 2020. The buyer then downcrossed it to MS65+ at PCGS and got it approved by CAC. It then sold for $84,000 in June 2020.

1861 Paquet: I failed to include this coin in the 2016 article but it clearly should have been. It is not only the single best Type One double eagle in existence, it is also among the very rarest US gold coins of any denomination with just two known. (I bought the other, for $1,645,000 in August 2014.)

Why are Type One double eagles so rare in Gem? There are a variety of reasons.

These coins were roughly handled when distributed to local banks. They were likely shipped loose in bags and the weight of these coins—coupled with their open design—meant that when they came into contact with each other, they severely abraded the surfaces.
Business strike Liberty Head double eagles were not a mainstream series until at least the 1920s, if not later. As a result, few high grade pieces were saved by collectors. This is particularly so with Type One issues and the few which exist either survived by accident or they were from the holdings of a foresighted collector such as John Clapp, Sr.
Twenty dollars was a significant amount of money up through the World War II era, and this meant that few non-collectors could afford to save coins with this much intrinsic value. Smaller coins such as gold dollars, quarter eagles, and three dollar gold pieces were saved by collectors. Very few Type One double eagles, it appears, were saved.
Millions of double eagles were melted after the Gold Reserve Act of 1933 was passed by the US government. Numismatic issues were exempt and this certainly kept certain rare Type One double eagles from the melting pot, but it is probable that many important coins were melted due to the fact that in 1933 they were not yet recognized as rarities.

When the number of properly graded non-shipwreck MS65 Type One double eagles from both grading services is combined, the total is likely to remain less than 20 for some time to come. I don’t foresee many—if any!—being discovered in old collections or non-numismatic sources. The vast number of Type One double eagles which are being repatriated from overseas sources includes many Uncirculated coins in the MS60 to MS62 range but nothing even remotely close to the Gem level.