Flashy gold $20 double eagle at Platinum Night

By Steve Roach

Published: May 8, 2018, 4 AM

Off the market for more than five decades, this 1883 Coronet $20 double eagle graded Proof 64 Deep Cameo sold for $204,000 at Heritage’s April 26 Platinum Night auction.

Original images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

An 1836 Classic Head gold $2.50 quarter eagle graded Proof 65+ Deep Cameo by Professional Coin Grading Service and bearing a Certified Acceptance Corp. green sticker realized $396,000 and emerged as the top lot of Heritage’s April 26 Platinum Night auction held at the Central States Numismatic Society’s annual convention in Schaumburg, Illinois. Heritage’s CSNS U.S. coin auctions totaled nearly $21 million, and rare gold coins led bidding.

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Here is one of the low mintage Coronet gold $20 double eagles from the collection of S. Gus and Louise Alexander that demonstrate the sustained demand for fresh-to-market coins in this always popular series.

The Lot:

1883 Coronet $20 double eagle, PCGS Proof 64 Deep Cameo

The Price:

$204,000

The Story:

Well-heeled collectors and investors have long gravitated toward flashy Proof Coronet double eagles, and Heritage offered one, an 1883 $20 coin graded Proof 64 Deep Cameo by PCGS that sold for $204,000 at Central States. Much like the 1895 Morgan dollar, which is known only through Proof strikes, no 1883 double eagles were produced at the Philadelphia Mint for circulation, placing extra demand on the Proof versions as the sole representatives for the issue.

At its last public auction offering at a 1963 RARCOA sale, the cataloger noted, “Assuming there might be 10 such gem coins in existence, some of which might be in Museums, one can easily see the unlimited potential of such coins. They can easily become numismatic ‘Rembrandts.’ ”

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The Proof-only mintage of 92 1883 Coronet double eagles is deceptive, since perhaps just 40 were released to collectors, of which 20 to 25 survive today in all grades, including two in the National Numismatic Collection and one at the American Numismatic Society.