SOLD – $20.00 – 1851-O PCGS EF45 CAC, SSCA
SOLD – $20.00 – 1851-O PCGS EF45 CAC, SSCA
Serial Number SSCA 6645
PCGS Lookup Number 8905
VERY RARE SS CENTRAL AMERICA 1851-O DOUBLE EAGLE
Only 17 New Orleans double eagles were found in the treasure of the SS Central America. A total of four dates were recovered (1850-O, 1851-O, 1852-O and 1853-O) of which the greatest number found were seven of the 1851-O.
Unlike the few other New Orleans double eagles from this source which I have seen, this specific example doesn’t have a “seawater” appearance. The pale green-gold surfaces are lustrous and lightly scuffed and I would grade this AU50 or even a touch finer by today’s standards. It is likely that this coin belonged to a passenger on the ship and this makes the coin a wonderful historic artifact with much more significance than a ubiquitous 1857-S double eagle.
The last auction record I can locate for an 1851-O SSCA double eagle is an AU53 which brought $4,600 back in the January 2004 Heritage FUN sale.
This is an important coin for the serious collector of Type One double eagles.
For more information on this date, click here.
