FUN newps part 2, the color of gold

Desert Moon

Hi Folks,
I noted in my earlier thread that I would post on FUN when I had a chance. Here is the 2nd set of newps. Gold Eagles. I picked up 2. Both were selected for eye appeal and originality. I have always loved gold eagles but finding ones with those 2 characteristics is always a challenge.

Below is my 1847-O that I had eyed on a dealers website before FUN. I went to his table first thing at FUN had a good look in hand and was pleased to see that the images on the dealer website were accurate. The 1847-O is the most common No Motto New Orleans. CAC has beaned 110 of these, including 32 green beans in AU, and 5 in MS up to the 62 grade. That makes this the 2nd most common No Motto Eagle beaned by CAC no mater which mint. Winter estimates that there are 1000-1500 extant, which again makes it very common within this part of this series. However, to put this common-ness into perspective, CAC has green beaned 944 1916-D merc dimes, PCGS estimates a survival rate of >10,000, so the 47-O eagle is 1/10th as common as a key date 1916-D merc dime. The merc will cost you over $10K in AU50, much more that I paid for this eagle...................

Also, note two things. It is in an OGH and is gold beaned! It would grade AU55 today based on PGCS photograde. CAC has gold beaned 2 47-Os, this one in 50 and another in 45, and 31 across the whole No Motto Eagle series. What is special about this coin and why it stood out to me amongst its common bretheren, are the surfaces. The patina on this piece is spectacular. It looks every bit in hand as it does on the images below, and has a strong luster when rotating under a light. Just a great piece and am glad to have found it. So an uncommon example for a 'common' No Motto Eagle.
.
.

.
.
The 2nd eagle I obtained is the 1851-O No Motto below. It is the most common No Motto O-Mint Eagle in terms of beans, there are 118 beaned. It is 2nd most extant according to Winter at 750 to 1000+. This is from the Fairmont Hoard, that Winter notes is more than 10,000 early gold coins that came out of a bank vault somewhere, and he suggests they were sitting there for 75-100 years untouched building up the great patinas they exhibit. I originally went to Doug's table to look at another coin he had on his website but I did not like it in hand. While perusing his other coins, this one stood out. It is a lighter gold color than the 47-O and as it came fresh out of the bank vault, no time to mess with it before being sent of to grade. CAC has beaned 18 in AU58, and only 9 from 60 to 64, so the prices scale up quickly in MS grades, this makes a 58 a great value. As the images show there is only the lightest rub on the highest parts of the devices on the coin. Winter says these come in two types of luster, semi-reflective or frosty. The semi-reflective ones tend to have more abrasions and this one is one of those. However, despite this, the amount of abrasions are fairly minimal, probably because of its history sitting in the bank vault and not being moved around too much. It might be worth sending it in to try for an upgrade to 58+ at some point. The colors shown in my images are the colors you see in hand. Both the Winter and the TV images are darker and oranger. Sure in the right orientation, there may be one that looks like those images, but pretty much no matter how I orient it to the light, I get the colors I show. In either case, happy to have acquired it.

Best, SH
.
.

.
.

Dug13

Great write up!
Both are top shelf in their class,
thanks sharing.

PeakRarities

Beautiful acquisitions all around, I really love the color and the surfaces of the 51-O, it has even nicer surfaces with less abrasions than my 51-P in 58cac

Catbert

Both are wonderful and belong in your first class collection.

Dave99B

These are stunning, and the kind of coins you will never regret buying. Just beautiful!

Dave

Pedzola

Great coins, congrats. These no-motto eagles are tough.

Walkerguy21D

Very nice, and I agree, great write up!

Smudge

Nice write up and coins. I love old gold.

sparky64

Fantastic post and coins as well.
Well done.

HillbillyCollector

Just beautiful. You have a great eye for quality!
Smart staying in the high AUs. Find excellent quality at a much more reasonable price.
Congrats on your purchases!

ricko

Beautiful gold coins and a great descriptive post. Cheers, RickO

kaz

Superb, well chosen examples. Thanks for the detailed discussion! My 51-O is just an AU50 but has a distinctly green-gold color to it.

asheland

Just splendid!

scubafuel

Small world! The 47-o is one I used to own. It was the last of my 1840’s eagles because it was the one I liked the most.

Project Numismatics

Both are fantastic, but the color and surfaces on that 47 O are simply stunning. Congrats on both!

Desert Moon

@scubafuel said:
Small world! The 47-o is one I used to own. It was the last of my 1840’s eagles because it was the one I liked the most.

If I had know I would have popped it out at FUN and showed you, alas.............. It is a fantastic eagle, glad to have it.

Best, SH

steveben

nice gold!

TomB

Holy Crud! That 1847-O is a monster! Both coins are gorgeous, but the 1847-O is truly something else.