Comparing the Proof 1850 $20 double eagle in a Paris Museum to my Specimen from the Original Dies

1northcoin

Adapted from a prior thread, here is the backstory for my $1850 gold coin:

The below pictured subject 1850 $20 double eagle gold piece presently in the author’s possession has an interesting history. It has been traced back to having been in the personal collection of its designer, James B. Longacre, the 4th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. As such it may have been the first $20 United States coin minted for general circulation. (The unique and priceless 1849 specimen in the Smithsonian was minted as a trial piece rather than for circulation.)

Based upon the similarity of auction descriptions and identification of its owners, including in particular a Dr. C.W. Green, the coin’s history is traced through three separate time periods to the present. It was initially identified in the 1870 Longacre Estate Auction as Lot 178 with a description as being a proof and one of the first minted. Specifically the auction description stated, “from the first dies used for the double eagle.” From an original auction catalogue in the possession of prominent coin dealer Rick Snow it was learned that the purchaser was Edward Cogan, a noted coin auctioneer and dealer at the time.

Numismatic legend and author Walter Breen wrote in his “Breen’s Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Proofs” that he was aware of a Dr. Green’s ownership of a purported proof $20 1850 double eagle.

In 1949 noted numismatist Max Mehl, and at the time the most prominent coin dealer in the United States, provided an auction description for an 1850 $20 double eagle that was both attributed to prior ownership by Dr. Green, and also of proof appearance. Identified as Lot 719 Max Mehl wrote in his auction description describing the coin, “The most beautiful specimen of this date $20.00 gold piece I have ever seen or that I can find record of. This coin was purchased by Dr. Green as a proof ….. The obverse is brilliant and equal to a brilliant proof. I classify it as a brilliant semi-proof, almost equal to a brilliant proof.”

The most recent auction appearance of a similar described 1850 $20 gold piece was lot 4170A in the Superior Galleries Pre-Long Beach sale held May 27-29, 2001. That description stated, “1850 SEGS graded Proof 62 marked Presentation/PL … pedigreed to Dr. C.W. Green and so noted on the holder.” It continued, “The coin has a beautiful bold strike with full stars and all other details sharp and clear. The fields are proof like and you can see clearly with magnification that the dies and planchet were enhanced prior to the striking …”

Numismatic author and researcher, the late Karl Moulton, concluded that the subject 1850 $20 double eagle with its matching and similar auction descriptions and Dr. C.W. Green provenance was one and the same as that sold in the initial 1870 Longacre Estate Auction.

Although Breen in his Proof encyclopedia suggested there may have been up to three such specimens, the only other that is presently known is a proof $20 double eagle piece located in a Paris museum. Through U.S. Mint records that coin appears most certainly to not have been minted from the original dies at the time of the first minting of U.S. $20 gold pieces for circulation. Contemporary accounts confirm that by April of 1850 $20 double eagles were in circulation and there is a written reference to the first double eagles having been struck on March 12, 1850. This leads to confirmation that the Paris museum’s proof specimen which evidently came from an October 1850 minting of a “Set of Gold Master Coins” made initially for the U.S. Committee on the Library was not from the original dies. This leaves the subject 1850 $20 double eagle in the author’s possession as the only one of similar appearance that can be so attributed.

The above described similarity of appearance in successive auctions coupled with the identified ownership provenance gives credence to the subject coin having been the first 1850 $20 double eagle gold piece minted in the United States.

1850 was the first year that the United States government minted a $20 gold coin for general circulation. The addition of a $20 large denomination gold coin was itself a consequence of the large supply of newly discovered gold available from the 1849 California Gold Rush that originated from the 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill on the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

Here, below pictured, is my 1850 double eagle that was likely the first 1850 double eagle minted, having come from its designer's own personal collection and having been specifically identified at the 1870 Longacre Estate Auction as having come from the original dies:

Credits:

Thanks and credit goes to many here on this board who have helped to put together the pieces of the backstory. When I first acquired the coin some two decades ago I knew only what was represented on the holder. Subsequently I learned that the coin had been featured in the original CoinFacts.com as a “Significant Example” of the 1850 Double Eagle with the note, “Proofs: Unique?” The late Karl Moulton who went by “firstmint” here on the forum added additional insight as did poster “yosclimber” who identified a 1949 auction record describing the coin. Former poster Roger Bourdette provided United States Mint records that helped to distinguish the coin from an 1850 double eagle proof that exists in a Paris museum. In addition Rick Snow was able to provide to Karl Moulton helpful information from an original 1870 auction catalog in his possession.

This from Breen's discussion of 1850 double eagle proofs in his Proof Encyclopedia. In it he references both my Longacre specimen with its subsequent Dr. C.W. Green provenance as well as the proof now located in a Paris Museum that has been attributed back to the set of Gold Master Coins made for the U.S. Committee on the Library. Of course at the time of his writing that coin's whereabouts remained unknown:

Below are photos of both the obverse and reverse of the coin in the Paris Museum that was determined to have once been a part of the set of Gold Master Coins made for the U.S. Committee on the Library over a half year after the first 1850 double eagle coins minted from the original dies, to include my specimen, had been made.

AUandAG

Good read and thanks. Beautiful for sure!

bob

1northcoin

@AUandAG said:
Good read and thanks. Beautiful for sure!

bob

Thanks. Adding to the California Gold Rush connection, here are some photos taken from last Fall at Sutter's Mill on the American River where it all started leading to the minting of the $20 double eagle gold piece:

Here are some photos taken along the American River last Fall at Sutter's Mill where the California Gold Rush originated in 1848 as referenced in the above Backstory. Given that the first 1850 $20 double eagles were minted with California gold it is likely that gold from this site made it into the $20 gold piece subject of the Backstory.

Q.David Bowers writes at page 490 of his 1,055 page tome "A California Gold Rush History" with regard to the first $20 gold pieces, "Incoming gold from California represented the source for most of the metal."

Along with a view looking upstream toward the mountains from which the gold would have originated:

1northcoin

This is the Paris Museum in which the Proof 1850 $20 double eagle pictured in my original post above is housed. More specifically it is part of a collection in the older building seen in the second photo:

ricko

@1northcoin... Thank you for a very interesting post and pictures. I have panned gold in CA, in that specific area actually. I did not find any large nuggets, but found gold dust and had a lot of fun. I enjoyed your post and the pictures... Now, if I could just hold that coin.. Cheers, RickO

Avocet

Thanks to @1northcoin for sharing this thoughtful and carefully researched post. Your reflection highlights one of the exciting elements of numismatics, and the backstory adds great value to your beautiful specimen. Posts like yours belong in an archive that someday could be designated as a blog-based library for numismatics.

Your story reminds me of a personal experience. I have mined gold from the Broad River in North Carolina, the same site that served as the primary source of gold for the Charlotte Mint in its early days. My experience with finding gold at that site is one of the reasons that I have a passion for Charlotte gold— the specimens I own carry greater personal significance.

1northcoin

Thanks.

A side note regarding the gold from the 1849 California Gold Rush that made it into the first $20 gold coins as well as regarding the above referenced Karl Moulton (who went by firstmint here on the PCGS forum).

Pictured immediately below is a book authored by numismatic researcher Karl Moulton in which he included a photo I had taken. The photo I took is just below the photo of the book. It depicts the dies and gold coins of various denominations that were minted in Salt Lake City under the direction of Brigham Young and which are known today as "Mormon Gold." Significantly, the $20 gold pieces minted there in 1849 lay claim to being the first $20 gold coins minted in the Americas.

Also of interest is how the gold from the California Gold Rush made it to Utah. It turns out that most of the men working at Sutter's Mill where gold was discovered were disbanded members of The Mormon Battalion. They were saving up to be able to continue on to Utah to join their families who had just crossed the Plains by Wagon Train while they were involved in what turned out to be the longest march in U.S. military history. They had served as United States soldiers in the Spanish American War. The gold dust they brought with them from Sutter's Mill sourced the gold in the Utah minted coins.

The subsequent two photos are also from the exhibit at the Salt Lake City museum and in one of them can be seen the small white building that housed the Salt Lake City mint.

FWIW, here is one of the Mormon Gold coins that I once owned which was minted at the Salt Lake City Mint in 1849. I have since replaced it with another minted in 1849 along with one from 1860 depicting a beehive symbol and lion. (Interestingly that one has inscriptions using letters from the Deseret alphabet, a new language that was being created so the Mormon pioneers hailing from many different countries could share a common language.)

1northcoin

Thanks to Utahcoin's photographic efforts, here are close-up black and white photos of the above described coins as well as some of the dies that were used there in the Salt Lake City Mint circa 1849 - 1860 to mint them. Also see pictured the beehive and lion design of the 1860 coin as above described.

With regard to the Deseret Alphabet inscription on the 1860 beehive and lion designed gold coin as immediately pictured above, here are my photos of some the printed materials that I have in the same Deseret Alphabet from that time period:

1northcoin

While a bit distant from Sutter's Mill and the gold of the Sierra Nevadas, these from my summer in the neighboring Silver State circa mid 1960s:

pmh1nic

Beautiful coin and amazing that the coin and its history has been preserved.

1northcoin

@1northcoin said:

@AUandAG said:
Good read and thanks. Beautiful for sure!

bob

Thanks. Adding to the California Gold Rush connection, here are some photos taken from last Fall at Sutter's Mill on the American River where it all started leading to the minting of the $20 double eagle gold piece:

Here are some photos taken along the American River last Fall at Sutter's Mill where the California Gold Rush originated in 1848 as referenced in the above Backstory. Given that the first 1850 $20 double eagles were minted with California gold it is likely that gold from this site made it into the $20 gold piece subject of the Backstory.

Q.David Bowers writes at page 490 of his 1,055 page tome "A California Gold Rush History" with regard to the first $20 gold pieces, "Incoming gold from California represented the source for most of the metal."

Along with a view looking upstream toward the mountains from which the gold would have originated:

Here are some added views from photos taken last Fall at Sutter's Mill where the California Gold Rush began. Note the gold banners along the bank of the American River. They are positioned on the opposite side of the river from where Sutter had his mill. The location where the mill was situated is downstream several hundred yards.

1northcoin

That should be "gold panners" not "gold banners."

In any event compare the last photo above with the sixth photo above it and you can see where Sutter's Mill was positioned in the river waters at the time of the gold discovery.

tcollects

@1northcoin said:
Adapted from a prior thread, here is the backstory for my $1850 gold coin:

The below pictured subject 1850 $20 double eagle gold piece presently in the author’s possession has an interesting history. It has been traced back to having been in the personal collection of its designer, James B. Longacre, the 4th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. As such it may have been the first $20 United States coin minted for general circulation. (The unique and priceless 1849 specimen in the Smithsonian was minted as a trial piece rather than for circulation.)

Based upon the similarity of auction descriptions and identification of its owners, including in particular a Dr. C.W. Green, the coin’s history is traced through three separate time periods to the present. It was initially identified in the 1870 Longacre Estate Auction as Lot 178 with a description as being a proof and one of the first minted. Specifically the auction description stated, “from the first dies used for the double eagle.” From an original auction catalogue in the possession of prominent coin dealer Rick Snow it was learned that the purchaser was Edward Cogan, a noted coin auctioneer and dealer at the time.

Numismatic legend and author Walter Breen wrote in his “Breen’s Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Proofs” that he was aware of a Dr. Green’s ownership of a purported proof $20 1850 double eagle.

In 1949 noted numismatist Max Mehl, and at the time the most prominent coin dealer in the United States, provided an auction description for an 1850 $20 double eagle that was both attributed to prior ownership by Dr. Green, and also of proof appearance. Identified as Lot 719 Max Mehl wrote in his auction description describing the coin, “The most beautiful specimen of this date $20.00 gold piece I have ever seen or that I can find record of. This coin was purchased by Dr. Green as a proof ….. The obverse is brilliant and equal to a brilliant proof. I classify it as a brilliant semi-proof, almost equal to a brilliant proof.”

The most recent auction appearance of a similar described 1850 $20 gold piece was lot 4170A in the Superior Galleries Pre-Long Beach sale held May 27-29, 2001. That description stated, “1850 SEGS graded Proof 62 marked Presentation/PL … pedigreed to Dr. C.W. Green and so noted on the holder.” It continued, “The coin has a beautiful bold strike with full stars and all other details sharp and clear. The fields are proof like and you can see clearly with magnification that the dies and planchet were enhanced prior to the striking …”

Numismatic author and researcher, the late Karl Moulton, concluded that the subject 1850 $20 double eagle with its matching and similar auction descriptions and Dr. C.W. Green provenance was one and the same as that sold in the initial 1870 Longacre Estate Auction.

Although Breen in his Proof encyclopedia suggested there may have been up to three such specimens, the only other that is presently known is a proof $20 double eagle piece located in a Paris museum. Through U.S. Mint records that coin appears most certainly to not have been minted from the original dies at the time of the first minting of U.S. $20 gold pieces for circulation. Contemporary accounts confirm that by April of 1850 $20 double eagles were in circulation and there is a written reference to the first double eagles having been struck on March 12, 1850. This leads to confirmation that the Paris museum’s proof specimen which evidently came from an October 1850 minting of a “Set of Gold Master Coins” made initially for the U.S. Committee on the Library was not from the original dies. This leaves the subject 1850 $20 double eagle in the author’s possession as the only one of similar appearance that can be so attributed.

The above described similarity of appearance in successive auctions coupled with the identified ownership provenance gives credence to the subject coin having been the first 1850 $20 double eagle gold piece minted in the United States.

1850 was the first year that the United States government minted a $20 gold coin for general circulation. The addition of a $20 large denomination gold coin was itself a consequence of the large supply of newly discovered gold available from the 1849 California Gold Rush that originated from the 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill on the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

Here, below pictured, is my 1850 double eagle that was likely the first 1850 double eagle minted, having come from its designer's own personal collection and having been specifically identified at the 1870 Longacre Estate Auction as having come from the original dies:

Credits:

Thanks and credit goes to many here on this board who have helped to put together the pieces of the backstory. When I first acquired the coin some two decades ago I knew only what was represented on the holder. Subsequently I learned that the coin had been featured in the original CoinFacts.com as a “Significant Example” of the 1850 Double Eagle with the note, “Proofs: Unique?” The late Karl Moulton who went by “firstmint” here on the forum added additional insight as did poster “yosclimber” who identified a 1949 auction record describing the coin. Former poster Roger Bourdette provided United States Mint records that helped to distinguish the coin from an 1850 double eagle proof that exists in a Paris museum. In addition Rick Snow was able to provide to Karl Moulton helpful information from an original 1870 auction catalog in his possession.

This from Breen's discussion of 1850 double eagle proofs in his Proof Encyclopedia. In it he references both my Longacre specimen with its subsequent Dr. C.W. Green provenance as well as the proof now located in a Paris Museum that has been attributed back to the set of Gold Master Coins made for the U.S. Committee on the Library. Of course at the time of his writing that coin's whereabouts remained unknown:

Below are photos of both the obverse and reverse of the coin in the Paris Museum that was determined to have once been a part of the set of Gold Master Coins made for the U.S. Committee on the Library over a half year after the first 1850 double eagle coins minted from the original dies, to include my specimen, had been made.

Oh man, another one of these threads, crack it out and send it to PCGS and if it comes back proof I'll apologize for being snarky all this time

1northcoin

Acknowledged, as stated in the beginning, the posting has been adapted from a prior thread, but the reverse of the Paris Museum specimen has been posted here for the first time as well as the acknowledged credits.

Credits:

Thanks and credit goes to many here on this board who have helped to put together the pieces of the backstory. When I first acquired the coin some two decades ago I knew only what was represented on the holder. Subsequently I learned that the coin had been featured in the original CoinFacts.com as a “Significant Example” of the 1850 Double Eagle with the note, “Proofs: Unique?” The late Karl Moulton who went by “firstmint” here on the forum added additional insight as did poster “yosclimber” who identified a 1949 auction record describing the coin. Former poster Roger Bourdette provided United States Mint records that helped to distinguish the coin from an 1850 double eagle proof that exists in a Paris museum. In addition Rick Snow was able to provide to Karl Moulton helpful information from an original 1870 auction catalog in his possession.

This from Breen's discussion of 1850 double eagle proofs in his Proof Encyclopedia. In it he references both my Longacre specimen with its subsequent Dr. C.W. Green provenance as well as the proof now located in a Paris Museum that has been attributed back to the set of Gold Master Coins made for the U.S. Committee on the Library. Of course at the time of his writing that coin's whereabouts remained unknown:

gnuschler

Alright, I'll bite ... why haven't you sent it in for grading?

1northcoin

The only time I have ever submitted a coin for regrading it has actually been done by an auction company.

Apart from that for the particular coin its value to me is primarily in the provenance. As for a grade, as a unique coin there apparently are no other similar graded examples to compare it to anyway. FWIW, the Proof Specimen in the Paris Museum remains ungraded and not in any holder.

As to the Proof $20 1850 double eagle in the Paris Museum John W. Dannreuther in his recent "United States Proof Coins" Volume IV Gold, Part Two writes regarding the Proof double eagle in the Paris Museum at page 865, "Numerous numismatic experts would doubt this example's Proof status, if its provenance was not so well established. It is part of the complete 1850 Proof set, but the dollar and double eagle are the only gold coins remaining..." He goes on to add that the coin has both die lines and hairlines.

gumby1234

Stunning. Anytime you feel like you don't want it anymore feel free to send it to me.

gnuschler

Let me ask my question differently ... PCGS does not acknowledge this as a proof, right? Did Dannreuther acknowledge it in his proof gold book (apologies, as my books are currently in storage)? Why has no one acknowledged this coin?

I do not presuppose that this is BS ... just trying to get caught up. Thanks!

1northcoin

PCGS has not certified any 1850 $20 as a proof to my knowledge but at least some of those who have seen the Paris specimen agree that it qualifies as a proof having come from the set of coins made as part of an 1850 proof set over a half year after those from the original dies had been minted.

(As to Dannreuther's commentary it does not appear that at the time of his writing he was made aware that the "1850 Proof set" to which he made reference had been made over six months after the coins from the original dies, including mine, had been minted.)

yosclimber

If you'd like us to verify a die match between your coin and the Paris museum specimen,
we will need a better photo of your coin's obverse, and its reverse.

1northcoin

That has pretty well been ruled out. The time lapse between when the original strikes were made and the specially made proof set (the term "Master Coins" was used at the time) confirmed it.

Currin

There have been much written on the coin past few years. It does have a interesting story. Without taking time on research, has there been effort to create a Provenance for the coin?

1northcoin

From the original post:

"Based upon the similarity of auction descriptions and identification of its owners, including in particular a Dr. C.W. Green, the coin’s history is traced through three separate time periods to the present."