BILL CRAWFORD’S 1864 $20 GRADED MS62 BY PCGS/CAC; ex Hansen and likely Condition Census

As a date, the 1864 is the third scarcest Type One double eagle from Philadelphia after the 1862 and the 1859. It is now harder to locate in Uncirculated than the formerly-scarcer 1863 as a result of the discovery of a number of nice pieces in a field n Kentucky a few years ago. I regard the 1864 as rare in properly graded MS62 and very rare finer. I paid $282,000 for the best business strike of this date (a PCGS MS65), and I am aware of just one or two that I grad better than MS62.

This piece was once part of the fantastic Dr. William Crawford Collection of Liberty Head double eagles (better known to today’s specialists as the AWA Collection). Bill was a remarkably picky and maddeningly patient collector who was impossible to outbid at auction when he saw a coin he HAD to have. I can tell you with strong conviction that if Bill owned a coin, it was fabulous.

And that describes this piece. It has crazy luster for this issue and it is the coin that represents the diametric visual opposite to a crusty Fairmont coin (and this case, that is a good thing…). It has the appearance of one of the gemmy S.S. Republic 1865 $20s, but it was likely purchased in the 1980-2010 era—when Crawford was active—and it was in a transaction well before any hoards of this date were located.

The PCGS/CAC MS62+ example sold as Stack’s Bowers 4/2022: 5399 brought $60,000, and while I personally liked that coin a bunch, 95% of all collectors will vastly prefer this coin. Stack’s Bowers 11/2022: 7329 sold for $37,200, and I thought the coin was overgraded and dingy. The single best comparable is the nice PCGS/CAC MS62 sold by Heritage in the 2014 FUN auction for $52,875.

This is an extremely important coin that qualifies in the Condition Census for the issue, and it represents the single best business strike 1864 double eagle that is likely to be available for many years!

CAC has approved five in MS62 (including a single MS62+) with just one finer (MS63).

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