1849 $20 Mormon Double Eagle NGC XF40
IN STOCK
SKU
1784227001
Great Rarity in Mormon Territorial Gold!
Take advantage of a truly unique opportunity to acquire a Mormon double eagle. This offering from AU Capital Management, the 1849 $20 Mormon Double Eagle, was the first twenty-dollar denomination coin struck in the United States for general circulation. This beat the U.S. federal issue by one year, making this coin even more desirable for numismatists who want to put together a complete set of this important denomination.
NGC has graded only 7 of this issue in total. Of those, there is one in XF40 with 5 finer. Collector’s Universe prices this issue at $250,000 in XF40. Save $25,000.00 off the Collector’s Universe price when you buy this coin!
An 1853 daguerreotype of Brigham Young, Mormon leader who established a mint in 1849. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
“This is one of the rarest Pioneer gold coins and also one of the most important,” writes David Hall. “The 1849 Mormon issues were the first Pioneer gold coins struck from California gold. And the 1849 $20 is the largest denomination of the Mormon gold coins. But this denomination, and the even rarer 1849 $10, were struck in extremely limited quantities.”
The rarity of this issue is explained by Heritage Auctions in the original listing for this coin in August of 2023:
Mormon twenty-dollar gold pieces are formidable Territorial gold rarities that are seldom offered in any venue. A search of the Heritage archives reveals only eight examples offered in our auctions over the past 25 years. The current example represents the ninth such coin -- a pleasing, moderately circulated example with smooth and attractive surfaces for the grade and excellent eye appeal.
Roster of High-Grade 1849 Mormon Twenty Dollar Gold Pieces
This roster of high-grade specimens was compiled by numismatic researcher Wayne Burt. We believe at least 24 separate examples of the 1849 Mormon twenty are extant in all grades.
1. MS62 PCGS. Discovered in a safe deposit box in 2016. Orlando F.U.N. Platinum Night Signature Sale (Heritage, 1/2021), lot 4148, realized $720,000.
2. MS62 NGC. John Glover Kellogg; Kellogg heirs; Public Auction Sale (Thomas Elder, 10/1916), lot 741, realized $450; Virgil Brand (Brand Journal number 81206); Brand Estate; Armin Brand (priced at $600 on 3/1/1942); B.G. Johnson; Jacob Shapiro (a.k.a. J.F. Bell); J.F. Bell Collection (Stack's, 12/1944), lot 1020, realized $900; Major Alfred Walter; 60th Public Auction (New Netherlands, 12/1968), lot 593, realized $8,000; Henry Clifford; Kagin Collection; Stuart Levine; Riverboat Collection (Heritage, 4/2014), lot 5456, realized $558,125. Note: In the Bell catalog, Stack's identified this coin as the Wayte Raymond-George Alfred Lawrence-"Col." E.H.R. Green specimen, but that attribution is incorrect, as pointed out in New Netherlands' 60th Sale. Plate coin in Donald Kagin's Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States.
3. MS61, estimated grade per David Hall. Mint Cabinet; National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
4. AU53 PCGS. Judge Charles W. Slack; Slack Collection (B. Max Mehl, 5/1925), lot 51, realized $475; unknown intermediaries; Dr. Russell H. Renz; Royal Sale (Mehl, 3/1948), lot 3923; James A. Stack; Stack-Teich Collections (Stack's, 1/1990), lot 332, realized $41,250. Rarities Night Sale (StacksBowers 11/2021), lot 4149, realized $300,000.
5. AU50 PCGS. Captain Andrew C. Zabriskie; Zabriskie Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1909), lot 457, Col. James W. Ellsworth; John Work Garrett, via Wayte Raymond and Knoedler Galleries in 1923; Johns Hopkins University; Garrett Collection, Part II (Bowers and Ruddy, 3/1980), lot 954, realized $50,000; Charles Kramer; Kramer Collection (Stack's- Superior, 11/1988), lot 943, realized $45,100.
6. AU50 NGC. Stocker Estate; Pre-Long Beach Sale (Ira and Larry Goldberg, 9/2012), lot 2251, realized $253,000.
7. XF45 PCGS (CAC). Henry Chapman's sale of the John Story Jenks Collection, December 1921, lot 6414; Henry Chapman's sale of the A.C. Nygren Collection, April 1924, lot 402. The Larry H. Miller Collection (StacksBowers 12/2020), lot 1449, realized $264,000.
Notable others include the Judge Slack-James Stack specimen; the PCGS VF30 specimen sold by Bowers and Merena in August 1995 ($37,400); the Garrett coin; the bruised Eliasberg coin, the tooled Walton-Gibson piece, and the burnished specimen in the September 1984 Bowers and Merena sale
| PCGS # | 10274 |
|---|---|
| Grading Service | NGC |
| Year of Issue | 1849 |
| Grade | XF40 |
| Denom Type | Mormon Gold |
| Numeric Denomination | $20 |
| Mint Location | Private Issue |
| Designation | NONE |
| Circ/UnCirc | Circulated |
| Strike Type | Business |
| Holder Variety | MORMON |
| Grade Add On | NONE |
| Holder Type | N/A |
