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1861-O $20, AU55, Liberty Head Gold Piece [166265]

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:20,000.00 USD Estimated At:40,000.00 - 70,000.00 USD
1861-O $20, AU55, Liberty Head Gold Piece [166265]
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This is an exceptional rarity, with only 17,741 coins made. The last double eagle issue from the New Orleans Mint until 1879. NGC certified AU 55. Total Graded by NGC: In AU 55: 14; In Higher Grades: 21. All of the 1861 coins minted in Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans are of keen and intense interest by Civil War and Confederate collectors.
Louisiana joined the Confederacy on Feb. 4, 1861. Five days earlier, the State had seized the US Mint in New Orleans. The story is important and complex (see History of the New Orleans Mint by Doug Winters). Bowers (US Gold Coins, 1982)relates that the US Government struck 5,000 pieces before the State seized the Mint, the State struck 9,750 coins, and the Confederacy struck 2,991 coins for the total of 17,741. Officially, that means 16.7% of the 1861-O $20 gold coins are "Confederate money." Mint Director Snowden went on the warpath, recommending to Treasury Secretary Samuel P. Chase that the Government remove the 1861-O gold coins from circulation and render them not lawful legal tender. The President and Secretary Chase chose to ignore Kint Director Snowden, and the 1861-O remained legal tender, even though 12,741 coins were struck illegally, which also means they did not have the usual assay checks. A study of the fineness of 1861-O $20 gold coins is thus of great interest.

Date: 1861
Country (if not USA):
State: Louisiana
City: New Orleans