A coin of Kings - Lorin Parmelee and Virgil Brand's 1861 Paquet Double Eagle
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1861 Double Eagle Paquet Reverse - PCGS MS67 POP 1/1/0 CAC - Parmelee, Brand, Boyd, Farouk, Norweb, Jung
This coin has an amazing provenance, being one of the few coins I've run across that was owned by both Lorin Parmelee and Virgil Brand! It's was also owned by a bona fide king, King Farouk, the Norwebs and Oliver Jung, among many others.
What a beautiful and mysterious coin. Heritage provides the following fascinating history which indicates the same die punches were used in both Philadelphia and San Francisco with different hubs.
Heritage wrote:
The Enigmatic Paquet Reverse Double Eagle
Paquet Reverse double eagles have been avidly collected since they first appeared on the numismatic auction scene in 1865, just four years after the coins were struck. Despite its long auction history and acclaimed status as a premier numismatic rarity, the Paquet Reverse double eagle has always been a mysterious issue. Its true nature has puzzled numismatic scholars for 160 years and many key facts about the issue only came to light long after its discovery. Today, we know Paquet Reverse double eagles were struck at two U.S. Mints, Philadelphia and San Francisco, but that important fact was largely unknown before the late 1930s. Similarly, we now know the Philadelphia and San Francisco reverse designs are different, struck from an entirely different hub that employed the same punches in a slightly different arrangement. This key fact was only discovered in 1988 and its implications are still being debated today. Expert opinion on the true nature of the Paquet Reverse double eagle is split, with different authorities reaching different conclusions about the character of this enigmatic issue over the years. We have thoroughly examined the historical record and studied the latest evidence to achieve a better understanding of this important issue.
Comments
Agreed - an amazing coin. The backstory is just as intriguing. Here is some added commentary related to the San Francisco issue as above referenced.
It is of interest to note that ALL of the surviving Philadelphia minted Paquets are in mint state and NONE of the San Francisco minted survivors are!
Pictured is my example of the San Francisco minted Paquet Reverse Double Eagle:
The history relating to the survival of the San Francisco minted Paquets is also of special note. If the transcontinental telegraph line had been completed to reach California earlier in 1861 it is likely that there would be no surviving 1861-S Paquet Reverse Twenty Dollars at all. As it was, the order to not start/halt production was delayed reaching San Francisco because it still had to be transmitted by Pony Express!
The "discovery of the San Francisco minted Paquet Reverses was made much later than the 1865 date referenced for the Philadelphia specimens identified in the OP's quoted Heritage squib.
As to why there are no known mint state San Francisco minted Paquet Reverse coins is an xcellent question and I think most will find the answer just as intriguing as the rest of the story that goes with the above described delay in transmitting the stop production order due to the Pony Express with regard to the San Francisco mint's striking of the 1861-S Paquet Reverse coin in the first place.
At the time the "few struck in San Francisco" slipped out into circulation there was no public awareness of same. It was not until many years later that it was discovered by an astute collector that a $20 1861 Liberty from the San Francisco Mint even existed with a different reverse than other $20 Liberties. By then all the 1861-S "Paquet Reverse" Liberty Head Double Eagles had been in circulation for some time. To date only about 200 or so have ever been found of the several thousand that were erroneously released by the San Francisco Mint.
Maybe someday one will surface in mint state, but as time passes that becomes more and more unlikely. (Probably the most likely appearance of finding one in mint state would have come from the recently unearthed Saddle Ridge Hoard that included hundreds of $20 San Francisco minted Double Eagles preserved in mint state, but that was not to be.)
Compare that to the mint state examples minted in Philadelphia where it was recognized from the inception that the coins were not going to go into general circulation. (One could even argue that the two known fall into the same category of questioned legality as has been alleged to apply to the 1933 Double Eagles that escaped from the Philadelphia Mint. As with the 1933 Double Eagles, the Philadelphia Mint issue was ordered to be melted.)
Add to the above, the fact that in 1861 there were likely more persons interested in collecting coins on the sophisticated East Coast as opposed to the Wild Wild West.
Doing some further research, I was able to locate a specific reference to the above referenced discovery by "an astute collector" of the 1861-S Paquet Reverse Double Eagle. As set forth in a Heritage Auction catalogue listing from 2008, the following is chronicled:
This issue was unknown to the numismatic community until 1937, when an example was found in a barn in Hull, Texas."
TALK ABOUT A "BARN FIND!"
As to the referenced "controversy" surrounding this coin one can add the back-and-forth here on this board as to whether these coins qualify as a type. IMHO David Bowers has settled the question by having assigned them as a sub-type. Significantly the ONLY sub-type for all of the Double Eagles!
Here is an excerpt from my prior posting as well as a link to the complete thread:
Definitely a coin that appeals to those who find the history of a coin to be of special interest. As noted in the auction posting narrative posted above, "Q. David Bowers considers the 1861-S Paquet Double Eagle the rarest coin of this denomination issued by the San Francisco Mint."
As also noted in a post above, Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth in their 2008 Third Edition of "100 Greatest U.S. Coins" had placed the 1861 San Francisco minted paquet at number 83 and note that "there are probably 200 to 300 examples known in all grades." An AU example is given an historical value by the authors of $85,000.00. No known uncirculaed examples exist."
It has now moved up to number 50 in the 2015 Fourth Edition with an updated to 2015 value for the AU coin at $100,000.00.
The authors comment in their 2015 Fourth Edition, "Today, the 1861-S Paquet double eagle ranks as one of the most desirable of the denomination. Prices for the issue have surged in recent years. About Uncirculated examples have nearly tripled since the first edition of "100 Greatest U.S. Coins was published. ..... prices for this coin will most likely continue their steady rise."
Add to that the story itself that begins with the fact there would likely be no 1861-S Paquet Double Eagles if the transcontinental telegraph had been completed earlier in 1861 so that the delays consequent from use of the Pony Express to transmit the halt production order would have been mooted. Then on top of that is the fact that it took until 1937 for the coin to be "discovered" with the result that by then only circulation examples were existant.
Also intriguing is that of the thousands of shipwreck Double Eagles that have been found in recent years only one 1861-S Paquet was among them, and that one did not qualify as mint state. When the Saddle Ridge Hoard came to light after being buried since the late 1800s it too had no 1861-S Paquets despite the fact that hundreds of the coins in the hoard were double eagles from the San Francisco Mint.
Now that is just the 1861-S Paquet. The Philadelphia mint version has its own mystique that includes the controversy as to its origins that has been alluded to in posts above.
The 1861 Paquets are not viewed by knowledgeable numismatists as a mere variety. They are of a different design and for type collectors of Double Eagles there is enough difference in the Paquet Reverse to qualify as an essential coin to complete a full type set collection. That said, one must concede that there is enough similarity to other $20 gold pieces of its era for at least the 1861-S Paquets to have remained hidden in plain sight until their "discovery" decades after they escaped into circulation.
Just referencing the basic design, the following distinctions are evident as described in another of the Heritage Auction listings:
"Many individual modifications to the Longacre reverse are evident. The most obvious difference is the tall lettering, featuring heavier vertical elements including uprights and serifs. The scroll work is separated from the eagle's tail, and the constellation of stars is lower, almost entirely below the glory of rays. The eagle's wingtips point to different letters in the legend. The shield has a border consisting of two individual lines, rather than a single line. The border is much narrower, ....."
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/11645195#Comment_11645195
I would love to add this coin to my $20 collection. But it is very much above my max buy price. It would make a great addition to the Hansen collection or a rich collector's box of 3 or 5.
Interesting history. I would love t o see an MS 1861-S Paquet turn up.... What a frenzy that would create. Certainly a possibility, though remote. Cheers, RickO
It is a shame that for certain collectors this coin is beneath them because it is unavailable in Mint State. I once had in inventory a gorgeous Turban Head $10 in AU-58 that I offered to someone I thought was a numismatist and he turned it down because it was less than MS.
1861-S Paquet Reverse
I have looked into the history of these coins at the Archives. When the year of 1861 rolled around the Branch Mint first started coining Eagles. The first 5,000 Double Eagles were not received from the Coiner until January 16th.
January 16th 5,000 Double Eagles received from the Coiner
January 18th 2,750
January 19th 1,000
January 22nd 1,500
January 23rd 1,500
January 28th 3,000
January 29th 2,500
January 30th ziip
January 31st zip
Monthly total 17,250 Double Eagles
Must have been with the Paquet Reverse
February 1st Zip
On February 2nd, the letter arrived from Philadelphia telling Superintendent Hempstead to stop using the New Reverse. Superintendent Hempstead writes back and stated $385,00 in Double Eagles had already been coined using the New Reverse. This would equal 19,250 coins.
On February 2nd, 3,000 Double Eagles were delivered from the Coiner perhaps 2,000 of these also had the Paquet Reverse for a total of 19,250 coins struck.
I could not find any melt record for these coins. I think they were all paid out.
Depositor demand and the payout records would support this conclusion.
I don’t know why the (1861-S Paquet Double Eagles are so rare) perhaps some board member can explain it.
It was probably a combination of factors. It is reasonable to assume that the same reasons there are no known mint state examples of the 1861-S Paquet Reverse also contributed to their present day rarity. These were not recognized for over seven decades and accordingly not set aside as uniquely collectible.
To restate:
As to why there are no known mint state San Francisco minted Paquet Reverse coins is an xcellent question and I think most will find the answer just as intriguing as the rest of the story that goes with the above described delay in transmitting the stop production order due to the Pony Express with regard to the San Francisco mint's striking of the 1861-S Paquet Reverse coin in the first place.
At the time the "few struck in San Francisco" slipped out into circulation there was no public awareness of same. It was not until many years later that it was discovered by an astute collector that a $20 1861 Liberty from the San Francisco Mint even existed with a different reverse than other $20 Liberties. By then all the 1861-S "Paquet Reverse" Liberty Head Double Eagles had been in circulation for some time. To date only about 200 or so have ever been found of the several thousand that were erroneously released by the San Francisco Mint.
Add to the above, the fact that in 1861 there were likely more persons interested in collecting coins on the sophisticated East Coast as opposed to the Wild Wild West.
Doing some further research, I was able to locate a specific reference to the above referenced discovery by "an astute collector" of the 1861-S Paquet Reverse Double Eagle. As set forth in a Heritage Auction catalogue listing from 2008, the following is chronicled:
This issue was unknown to the numismatic community until 1937, when an example was found in a barn in Hull, Texas."
TALK ABOUT A "BARN FIND!"