Here's a gorgeous survivor of the tragic wreck of the SS Brother Jonathan. PCGS has graded 173 as MS63 with 162 finer. Collectors Universe gives this issue a price of $17,500.00 in MS63.

It was on July 30, 1865, a few months after the end of the Civil War, when the ship Brother Jonathan crashed against a large rock and sank off the coast of Crescent City, California. We collect and study the coins, however many lives were lost that day--219 to be exact. A great wealth of material goods sunk to the ocean's floor on that summer’s day, including $300,000 to $500,000 in cargo, 346 barrels of whiskey, $200,000 in payroll for troops at Fort Vancouver, and over $100,000 in cash and jewelry in the purser's safe.

The Brother Jonathan in 1862. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Gold specialist Doug Winter writes, "A number of the S.S. Brother Jonathan ... coins have very clean surfaces with almost no marks; these must have been pristine when they were loaded on the ship. ... The luster is frosty ... On the shipwreck coins, the quality and appearance of the luster varies. Some have exceptional frosty luster and show little evidence of having been on the ocean floor for over a century. ... A small number have superb color and are ... among the most attractive ... gold coins ... struck prior to the end of the Civil War." As you can see from the photos of the example offered by AUCM, this is among those with "superb color" that are "among the most attractive" gold double eagles found upon the Brother Jonathan.