1844-O $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle NGC MS62 Ex. SS New York

This specimen is stunning, well-struck, and difficult to locate in this state of preservation. NGC had originally graded 8 as MS62, with 3 as MS63 and 2 as MS64 - all from this shipwreck.

As a regular issue, gold specialist Doug Winter provides us with this insight on the 1844-O five:

The 1844-O is the most common No Motto half eagle from the New Orleans mint. It is readily available in the lower circulated grades and can be found in the middle to upper ranges of AU without much difficulty. It is scarce in MS60 to MS61, very scarce in MS62, rare in MS63 and very rare above this. There is one Gem Uncirculated and one Proof currently known.

STRIKE: This is generally a very well struck issue. The obverse often shows nearly full definition, although there may be some weakness on the curls below BERT in LIBERTY. The reverse tends to be not quite as well struck, although it is still well detailed by the standards of No Motto New Orleans half eagles. There is sometimes weakness seen on the eagle’s neck and upper leg feathers as well as on the horizontal lines of the shield. With some patience, the collector should be able to locate a well struck example of this date.

Newspaper ad for the steamboat New York. From the Telegraph and Texas Register, March 2, 1842. 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.