1852 Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-61 (PCGS). CAC.Beautiful honey-rose patina blends with frosty mint luster on both sides of this uncommonly smooth-looking BU double eagle. A sharply struck, wonderfully original example worthy of a premium bid. 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 fewer than 150, if not 125 different 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 to an astute collectors cabinet.From the Fairmont Collection.
