A Post-Fairmont Date-by-Date Analysis of No Motto New Orleans Eagles
/I plan on offering an updated 2023 version of my 2018 work titled Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint, 1838-1909 late in the year. I thought it would be a good idea to produce a small series of articles which discuss specific denominations of New Orleans gold coins, and the changes which have occurred since the 2020 revision.
Thanks to the Fairmont Hoard, No Motto eagles have seen the greatest number of changes of all the major types of New Orleans gold when it comes to Condition Census coins. While no new finest knowns were discovered, there were a number of very significant pieces including a few which established new auction records for their respective date(s).
1841-O $10.00 PCGS AU53 CAC, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1841-O: This popular first-year-of-issue continues to be the single rarest high grade No Motto eagle from New Orleans. It is typically seen in low grades and even a nice EF is rare. I believe that fewer than a dozen exist in AU with nearly all of these at the lower range. A nice AU with good overall eye appeal is extremely rare.
There were just two 1841-O eagles sourced from the Fairmont Hoard, but one was very significant: a choice PCGS/CAC AU53 which I purchased for a record-setting $72,000 in Stack’s Bowers April 2022 sale. This coin was the single best 1841-O which has been offered since the Heritage 2/2018 coin, graded AU55 by PCGS, which I also purchased at $66,000.
1842-O $10.00 PCGS AU55, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1842-O: For quite a while this date has sold for a greater rarity premium than other No Motto eagles and I actually regard it as somewhat overvalued in AU53 through AU58. Actually, let me amend that: this date is overvalued in typical AU53 through AU58 but a nice CAC quality example in this range is another story.
The PCGS AU55 Fairmont coin which sold for $19,200 as Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5220 seems fully valued to me and there are better values in this series.
1843-O $10.00 PCGS MS63
1843-O: This date saw quite a bit of activity at the top end of the Condition Census. My previous estimate of seven to nine coins known in Uncirculated is too low and I believe that the number known in this range is more like 10-12.
I purchased an important PCGS MS63 1843-O for a record-setting $96,000 in Heritage’s 2021 ANA auction which is now the second finest known. In July 2022, an NGC MS63 (previously graded MS62 by this firm) brought $63,000; it had last sold in a February 2022 sale (as a 62) for $40,800. The nicest 1843-O from the Fairmont Hoard was a PCGS MS61 which brought a very strong $42,000 as Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5222.
1841-O $10.00 PCGS MS61 CAC
1844-O: With one important exception, the high grade 1844-O eagles which were new to the market were far more limited than the 1843-O. Some nice PCGS/CAC AU55 coins sold in 2022 auctions for less than $5,000 which seems really reasonable to me.
Two high-grade sales—one from 2020 and the other from 2022—are significant. In April 2022, Stack’s Bowers sold a PCGS MS61 1844-O for $44,400. In 2020, Heritage sold the Jacobsen coin, a PCGS/CAC MS61 for $27,600; the same coin had last sold in 2015 for $21,378.
1845-O $10.00 PCGS MS62 CAC, courtesy of Heritage
1845-O: No sales of significance occurred for this date since I last updated my book in 2020. The most recent sale for a nice Uncirculated coin was Heritage 2/2020: 3210 (PCGS/CAC MS62 at $55,200), and the best Fairmont coin was a nice PCGS/CAC AU58 which sold for $15,600 in 2022.
I think this date has shown itself to be scarcer in AU55 and higher than most experts believed and the release of the Fairmont coins have only made nice 1845-O eagles appear rarer than any early date from this mint, save for the 1841-O.
1846-O $10.00 PCGS MS64 CAC, from the New England Collection
1846-O (and 1846/’5’-O): Fairmont has had nothing notable for either the 1846-O Normal Date or the so-called overdate variety. Both remain rare in properly graded AU55 and very rare in AU58. It has been many years since an Uncirculated 1846-O eagle has sold, and I’m certain that a coin grading MS62 or finer which was properly graded or even choice would shatter all price records for this date.
Note to PCGS: stop assigning the so-called “overdate” coins a separate designation from the normal date coins. It’s confusing and disingenuous.
1847-O $10.00 PCGS MS64, ex Bass, from the New England Collection
1847-O: There have been hundreds of 1847-O eagles in the Fairmont Hoard sold so far but most of these have been lower grade. I’m aware of just two PCGS/CAC MS61 coins from this source (both sold in 2018) and none finer.
Values have held up pretty well for nice AU 1847-O eagles as most of the Fairmont coins are EF45 and lower (in mid-2022, PCGS had graded 239 in EF45 with 284 finer; as of May 2023, they had graded 272 in EF45 with 323 finer. This is an increase of 33 in EF45 with 39 in higher grades). Despite this population increase, the novelty aspect of this being a large-sized New Orleans gold coin from 1847 makes it eminently marketable.
1848-O $10.00 PCGS MS60 CAC, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1848-O: The nicest MS60 example of this date I’ve ever seen sold for a strong $24,000 as Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5236; it was graded by PCGS and approved by CAC. No other Fairmont example of this date has come close to that coin in terms of quality.
Prices have been very strong for most 1848-O eagles which I see; especially PCGS/CAC coins. While I still like this date, I actually think it’s very slightly overpriced at current levels.
1849-O $10.00 PCGS AU58 CAC, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1849-O: One very nice new 1849-O sold in Stack’s Bowers 4/2022 auction. Graded AU58 by PCGS and approved by CAC, it sold for a very strong $43,250; the second highest price ever paid for this date. This was the single most attractive 1849-O eagle I’ve ever seen but the almost-as-nice PCGS/CAC AU55 that Stack’s Bowers sold in August 2022 brought only $14,400 which makes the price of the AU58 seem really aggressive. Both were ex Fairmont.
I continue to love this date in any grade as long as the coin is choice and original.
1850-O $10.00 PCGS AU58 CAC, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1850-O: The 1850-O remains an extreme rarity in Uncirculated with just three known (all off the market). So, I’m not shocked by the uber-strong price of $31,200 which a lovely PCGS/CAC AU58 brought as Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5242. This was by far the best of a small number of 1850-O eagles sourced from the Fairmont Hoard, and nothing else even remotely close to Condition Census quality has turned up since my 2020 second printing.
This date remains very scarce in AU50 and finer with Choice AUs being underpriced and under-appreciated.
1851-O $10.00 NGC MS62+ CAC, from the New England Collection
1851-O: There were three APRs in 2022 for this date in PCGS/CAC. One was in January for $26,400, one in April 2022 for $27,600, and another in August for $26,400. All of these were nice but none qualifies as a Condition Census example for the date. There was just a single Uncirculated 1851-O in the Fairmont Hoard (the 8/2022 coin mentioned above) with the next best a small number of nice AUs.
Collectors continue to underestimate the scarcity of this date in properly graded AU55 and AU58.
1852-O $10.00 PCGS AU58+ CAC, from the DWN archives
1852-O: No one was more surprised than I was to see a non-CAC PCGS AU55 example of this date sell for $36,000 as Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5246. I’m assuming that the buyer’s aggressive bidding was based in the fact that a PCGS MS60 brought $111,625. In August 2022, another PCGS AU55—this with CAC approval—brought a much more reasonable $16,800.
This date has become slightly easier to locate in EF40 to AU53 grades than it was a few years ago. It remains extremely rare in AU58 and higher.
1853-O $10.00 PCGS MS61 CAC, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1853-O: Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5249 was graded MS61 by PCGS and approved by CAC. It sold for $51,600 and while this was a very strong price, it was the single best 1853-O eagle I’ve ever seen. Another nice PCGS/CAC 1853-O—also from the Fairmont Hoard—brought $10,800 as Stack’s Bowers 11/2022: 7217.
I actually find this date to be somewhat overpriced in AU55 and AU58 as prices have risen significantly over the past decade while the number of nice coins entering the market has risen as well. CAC has a current population of 11 in AU55 and 14 in AU58 with suggested values of $6,000 for the former and $13,000 for the latter. Compare this to the scarcer 1844-O $10 with a CAC population of six in AU55 and eight in AU58 and suggested values of $4,500 and $8,250 in AU 55 and AU58, respectively.
1854-O Small Date $10.00 PCGS MS60, from the New England Collection
1854-O Small Date: The two best Fairmont examples of this underrated variety were both graded PCGS/CAC AU55 with one selling for $7,800 in April 2022 and the other realizing $5,520 in November 2022. A non-CAC PCGS AU58 brought $8,400 in August 2022.
This date remains a favorite of mine and I regard it as one of the few truly undervalued No Motto eagles from New Orleans.
1854-O Large Date $10.00 NGC MS61, from the DWN archives
1854-O Large Date: A PCGS MS60 1854-O Large Date which brought $26,400 was the best example of this date from the Fairmont Hoard. Also notable was a PCGS/CAC AU58 which brought $16,800.
I’ve been reminding collectors for many years that it’s the Small Date and not the Large Date 1854-O $10 which is the rarer coin in higher grades, but to this day, most non-specialists believe the opposite to be true.
1855-O PCGS AU55 CAC, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1855-O: There are just two Uncirculated 1855-O eagles known as well as four to six properly graded AU58s. While no Condition Census examples of the 1855-O were located in the Fairmont Hoard, a very nice PCGS/CAC AU55 which brought $20,400 as Stack’s Bowers 3/2023, provided one collector with an uncommonly nice 1855-O for their No Motto New Orleans eagle set.
I rank the 1855-O as the third or fourth rarest No Motto eagle from New Orleans after the 1841-O and the 1859-O, and very comparable to the 1849-O.
1856-O $10.00 PCGS AU58 CAC, from the DWN archives
1856-O: There have been three nice 1856-O eagles from the Fairmont Hoard sold thus far; two PCGS/CAC AU55s and one PCGS/CAC AU55+. There was also another which I graded AU58 but which had been given a details grade of “AU” with a modifier that the rim had been repaired. I thought the coin was just fine and by the looks of its $22,800 price, so did at least two others bidders.
This date continues to be exceedingly rare in Uncirculated with just two known. Nice AU coins are rare but are more available than for the 1849-O and the 1855-O.
1857-O $10.00 PCGS AU58 CAC, courtesy of Stack's Bowers
1857-O: Among the more significant No Motto New Orleans eagles from the Fairmont Hoard was a choice PCGS/CAC AU58 which brought a record-setting $48,000 as Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5261.
While I like this date a lot in higher grades, I think it is slightly overrated in AU55 and AU58.
1858-O $10.00 PCGS MS62, ex Bass, from the New England Collection
1858-O: The PCGS MS62 coin sold by Stack’s Bowers as 4/2022: 5264 at a strong $40,800 was a new addition to the Condition Census for this issue, as was the PCGS/CAC MS60 coin which realized $16,800 as Stack’s Bowers 8/2022: 3270.
1859-O $10.00 PCGS AU55, from the DWN archives
1859-O: No 1859-O eagles are believed to be included in the Fairmont Hoard which further solidifies this date’s position as the single rarest New Orleans No Motto eagle. The last PCGS straight graded coin to sell at auction crossed the block back in March 2021, and the last nice one I handled was a PCGS/CAC AU55 which I placed in an east coast specialized collection in 2020.
The best advice I can give to a collector of New Orleans eagles is that if you are offered a nice 1859-O $10, you need to buy it as this is a rare and still undervalued issue.
1860-O $10.00 PCGS MS62, from the DWN archives
1860-O: Just one sale of this date impacts the current Condition Census for this date: the Heritage 2022 FUN: 4727 coin graded MS61 by PCGS, which set a price record for this date at $31,200. The same coin brought $22,325 in the Heritage 2015 auction.
In my next article in this series, I’ll focus on the With Motto eagles from the New Orleans mint.
Would you like me to work with you to assemble a set of New Orleans eagles? Please contact me at dwn@ont.com and we can discuss your numismatic goals.
