1843-O $10 Liberty Head Eagle NGC AU55 Ex.SS New York

Gold specialist Doug Winter writes, “The 1843-O is the second most available New Orleans eagle from the 1840s. It is comparatively available in lower grades with most examples found in the VF and EF range. It is very scarce in properly graded AU50 to 53 and it becomes very rare in the higher AU grades. In Uncirculated, this is an extremely rare issue and there are none currently known that grade higher than MS62.” NGC has graded 102 as AU55 with 75 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $6,500.00 in AU55.

The SS New York in 1836 when she was first constructed. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The SS New York conducted a light cargo and passenger service between New Orleans and Galveston. It included military and post office contract passage until it submerged on September 7, 1846, during a hurricane. Seventeen of the 53 crew and passengers were lost at sea, along with "thirty to forty thousand dollars in gold, silver, and bank notes," according to reports from contemporary sources.

The ship was first detected in 1990 by an amateur diver and Louisiana oilfield worker. He trusted reports of snags from local shrimp fisherman to locate the wreck. After completion of an archeological survey conducted by the Minerals Management Service, and gaining the legal title to the wreckage, the original explorers returned to recover the ship’s coins in 2006.