1852 Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-61 (PCGS). CAC.A handsome honey-rose example with undeniable originality in an early date Liberty Head twenty. Sharply struck with full mint luster in a hard satin texture. The mintage for the circulation strike 1852 double eagle is 2,053,026 pieces, or $41,060,520 face value. As with most early Philadelphia Mint double eagles, the quantity struck reflects the huge influx of gold from the California gold fields that was shipped to the Northeast beginning in 1849, then growing considerably larger with each passing year. The Philadelphia mintages would begin to lessen in size, however, after the opening of the mint at San Francisco in 1854, although not to the same extent as in New Orleans. Most 1852 double eagles remained in the United States and were used in domestic commerce, though many were sent overseas years later, by which time the coins had already acquired considerable wear. Todays research suggests that only 50 to 75 <em>different</em> examples of this otherwise relatively common issue can be accounted for in Mint State, with most of the known survivors at the lower end of the grading scale. A coin in MS-61, as here, represents a significant find in todays market and will be a welcome addition in an astute collectors cabinet.From the Fairmont Collection.