1852-O Liberty Head Double Eagle. EF-40 (PCGS).This handsome piece exhibits a blend of olive-khaki and golden-orange patina that provides a pleasingly original appearance. Faint remnants of luster persist to tempt the viewer as the surfaces dip into a light. Boldly defined overall, this is an endearing example of one of the more popular New Orleans Mint double eagles for mintmarked type purposes. Even though the 1852-O has a relatively substantial mintage figure of 190,000 pieces, only around one half of one percent survive in any grade. Even so, this is a comparatively available issue for specialists of this Southern mint to locate. As with most other double eagles of the 1850s, this issue saw heavy use in everyday trade, making it a notable rarity at the AU level of preservation and above. Always in significant demand by New Orleans Mint specialists as well as double eagle enthusiasts, a delightful specimen such as this that shows only modest traces of its commercial use is always in demand.
