1863 $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle NGC MS63 (CAC) Ex. Great Kentucky Hoard

This exclusive offering from AU Capital Management is a very rare example from the famous Great Kentucky Hoard. This is the only MS63+ graded example of the 1863 $20 Liberty head double eagle from either NGC or PCGS. NGC has graded one as MS63+ with only 4 finer. Out of a mintage of 142,790, there have only been 441 total original pieces graded by both NGC and PCGS. That suggests significant hoarding and later melting of this rare issue.

In CAC, there are 3 in MS63/63+ (just one since this is the only MS63+) with just one finer.

Gold specialist Doug Winter writes, “The 1863 remains one of the scarcer Type One double eagles from the Philadelphia mint. It is not easily located in any grade, and it is rare in Uncirculated.”

Of the strike, Winter tells us, “There are some examples which are fairly sharp on the hair of Liberty with many of the curls around the face and below the ear showing partial definition. … Most are sharper than average on the top of the head and the bow knot. The stars are generally sharp with partial to full radial line detail. The reverse may show some weakness on the shield, but most 1863 double eagles have strong peripheral detail on the reverse.”

This is a rare, PQ example! Please study the photos carefully and you will see what we mean.

The cache of rare Civil War-era coins unearthed in the Bluegrass State includes finest-known 1863 Double Eagles as well as several interesting varieties and errors. Pictured is the hoard before its certification by NGC. Photo: ngc.com.

Numismatic Guaranty Company® (NGC®) was honored to recently certify an incredible cache of rare Civil War-era coins found in the Bluegrass State. “The Great Kentucky Hoard” (as it had been designated) includes a group of finest-known 1863 Double Eagles and hundreds of US Gold Dollars dated 1850 to 1862, as well as a small number of silver coins. Several interesting varieties and errors were also discovered.

During the American Civil War, the state of Kentucky played an important role, as it bordered Union states in the north and Confederate states in the south. Situated as such, tensions were high from the beginning of the nation's unrest, and when the war began in 1861, Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin asserted the state’s neutrality with the “Kentucky Declaration of Neutrality.”

Despite the Declaration of Neutrality, the Civil War was a time of great turmoil in Kentucky. Many families were pitted against one another, and Kentucky saw much conflict. The Great Kentucky Hoard may have been a result of this conflict, with the coins lost for over 150 years, until they were unearthed in a cornfield. Details of the location and finder will remain confidential.