New Acquisition 1861-O $20 Double Eagle

since you mentioned MS60, I'd assume it's professionally certified by a TPG?....MS60 is one of those funny grades that is rarely assigned by TPGs

Owning an 1879-O New Orleans Double Eagle quite an accomplishment.

From what I've read in a book and browsed Heritage's auction archive that date and mint mark is sought after in all grades.

An 1861-O $20 in MS-60 sold for $146,875.00 on January 9, 2014 in a Heritage Auction.

-MV

Possibly it has been crossed and NGC was notified. If so they would pull it because the certificate was no longer valid.

Truer words never spoken.

It's Doug Winter's belief (and if you collect early gold, you know who Doug Winters is ) that the Confederate issues were all characterized by a strong date and a die crack starting at the denticles just above the second star. Near as I can tell, three are known in Mint State: two MS60's, and an elusive, higher-graded coin I find no direct reference to anywhere. I've seen more than one indirect mention of it, but the only evidence hinting as to grade is the fact that the NGC Coin Explorer lists retail values up to MS61+ for this coin, and they generally stop quoting prices at the known Top Pop for a given coin.

This is one of those coins for which price estimates are irrelevant. The fact that you might have paid "quite a bit north" of any existing transaction (that was only a few days ago, not "last year") doesn't matter, because the next owner of your coin will willingly do the same.

I'd pay Doug Winter his consulting fee on this one, he says knows of 4-6 uncirculated examples grading MS61-MS62, a MS60 coin would be at the lower end of the known examples, and you better be sure it's a solid MS coin not a slider that was slabbed just because the TPG wants a rare date coin in their holder. $185K is a whole lot of money to tie up in a coin, you really want the very best opinion you can get. Considering that it just sold for $147,000 the price was really set by the underbidder, you would already be paying a huge premium over what the last person was willing to pay for it. Looks like the current buyer was looking to flip this coin or his buyer has backed out, otherwise why would it be up for sale so quickly after the auction? Most collectors hold coins like this for around 4-7 years before selling them.

Just my 2¢ worth, I think it's great you are so close to a dream, just don't blindside yourself because of the availability right now. if just 1 or 2 of the known 4-6 MS coins suddenly got into TPG holders in MS61 or MS62 that would certainly make the MS60 coins worth a lot less than their previous sale prices. Give Doug Winters a call see what his best opinion is on this deal, what do you have to loose other than time and potentially a ton of money by not calling him?

NGC site says no 1861-O $20 are known in Mint State then they list the highest grade at MS61? I sure wouldn't be basing any research on their page on this date, they don't even list the Heritage Auction sale from January 2014 yet, while PCGS does have it in their census and pricing.

I'm a bit surprised you do not know of him, being that you collect gold coins. Doug is probably one of the top 2 or 3 US gold coin experts in the world, along with Don Kagin, David Akers, and a few others John Albanese comes to mind for proof gold.

Here is Doug's website where you will find a lot of good info in general on gold coins and his contact information.

http://raregoldcoins.com

He also writes a lot for numismatic publications and has authored numerous books on gold coins - especially the branch mints.

I would echo what other members have said and not acquire this example for that significant of a premium over its last sale. MS60 is an unforgiving grade - I would suggest instead looking for a solid AU example from a reputable dealer. Doug Winter is great resource, and I've just noticed that AU Capital Management ( http://www.aucmcoins.com ) has an NGC AU53 example for considerably less. I suggest attending the Long Beach show and finding either of these dealers (they'll both be in attendance I believe) and asking them about the coins you're interested in. The few hundred dollar plane flight would be well worth your time.

Remember the price sold at auction is not the setting price - the winning bidder now has his/her coin - the price was set by the under bidder, who is still looking for an example, so the price should be a little less that the hammer price a few weeks ago, for now. However, as time goes on, the price will increase depending on how the market does, how many more people want it, and how badly does the under bidder from the first auction really want it.