1882-S $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle PCGS MS62 Ex. Fairmont Collection

Formerly sold by Stacks Bowers for $5,280 on April 2022, Lot #5449, and described as:

1882-S Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-62 (PCGS).

Here’s an attractive coin to add to your collection of U.S. gold coins. In the grade of MS62, it is very collectible. PCGS has graded 554 as MS62 with 78 finer. The Collectors Universe price for this issue on MS62 is $5,000.00. Here’s an interesting aside on this issue. Ron Guth reports in PCGS Coinfacts that there was an obverse die of the 1882 Liberty Head double eagle, attributed to the San Francisco Mint, that sold via auction for $20,700 back in 2001. This coin offered by AUCM is part of the Fairmont Collection.

The 1849 Liberty Head double eagle, crafted by James B. Longacre, is housed in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Below is the original write-up from Stacks Bowers:

An attractively original and nicely example of this popular type issue among 1880s San Francisco Mint double eagle issues. Vivid color throughout, the surfaces also possess appealing mint luster and a razor sharp strike. The San Francisco Mint coined 1,125,000 double eagles in 1882, attesting to the fact that the demand for gold coins on the West Coast continued to be robust. Large numbers entered into the channels of commerce where they circulated until they were well worn; others were used in overseas trade. Back in 1982 David W. Akers regarded the true Uncirculated examples of the issue as "definitely scarce" and accounted for auction appearances of Mint State examples in scarcely more than 5% of the major auction sales he examined in his research. By 2004, when Q. David Bowers wrote his Guide Book of Double Eagles, the situation had changed, and Mint State examples were estimated to be in the hundreds rather than dozens. Current high-end estimates put the Uncirculated population well in excess of 1,000 pieces, and MS-60 examples command prices close to the "type" level. Above the level represented here, however, the 1882-S is anything but a "type" coin; in fact, it is a significant condition rarity that is seldom encountered in today's market. Given the rarity of Choice examples, the bidding opportunity represented by our offering of this PQ MS-62 from the Fairmont Collection should not be overlooked.

Provenance: From the Fairmont Collection-Hendricks Set.