1857-S $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle, 20F PCGS MS61 Ex.SS Central America

Of the 5,311 examples of the 1857-S $20 certified by PCGS from the first recovery, a mere 258 are of this "20F, No Serif, Right S" variety. That's almost 5% of the initial recovery. During the second recovery, NO EXAMPLES of the 20F variety were added to the population report. We conclude these coins must have all been recovered together and most likely, all contained in the same receptacle when it went down. It's entirely possible that this was a single striking on a single day.

 

The present example has the original gold foil insert and is labeled as #2680. The last time we see a PCGS MS61 gold foil 20F variety for sale at auction was sixteen years ago, in 2003, out of the John F. Rindge and Alan J. Harlan Estate catalog. It is a rich and lustrous honey gold with considerable luster remaining, especially on the reverse. PCGS certified 71 of these 258 coins as Mint State. There are 20 MS61 coins with 43 finer (MS64 is finest).

 

The present specimen is a wholesome and very clean Mint State-61. It is also the marquee coin for the CoinFacts website! See this  https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1857-s-20-no-serif-right-central-america-1-gold-foil/70005