1857-S $20 Spiked Shield S.S. Central America #2 (with Pinch) MS(PCGS#670713)

The Regency Auction 32

拍卖行

Legend Rare Coin Auctions

批号

493

等级

MS67

价格

1,939,917

详细说明

EX. S.S. CENTRAL AMERICA Legend Rare Coin Auctions is proud to present the most beautifully and amazingly colorful toned gold coin we have ever seen! This is the WORLD FAMOUS, gorgeously toned SUPERNOVA 1857-S double eagle. Used in all the early marketing for the second round of coins recovered from the S.S. Central America treasure, it has received worldwide attention for its truly remarkable beauty! Dubbed Supernova by the partners of the California Gold Marketing Group, who purchased and marketed the recovered treasures from the fabled S.S. Central America shipwreck due to its absolutely stunning toning. Needless to say, this SUPERB GEM is among the absolute FINEST 1857-S double eagles recovered and is truly UNIQUE in terms of its superlative patination. The vivacious brilliance of the original luster glows through and highlights the stunning patination on both sides. Swirling bands of tangerine, crimson, aquamarine, violet, cobalt, peach, and yellow gold blend together and frame Liberty's portrait, accenting her facial details. Similar tones grace the reverse. Rotating this masterpiece in a light will cause the totally original colors to create a vortex that will hypnotize you. We have spent hours staring at it since it arrived in our offices. It is truly remarkable to contemplate how the cold, still waters of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, off the Carolina coast reacted with the 90% gold alloy, the copper and trace elements that make up the remaining 10% as they took on a supernova of color. Everyone has seen the photos of the piles of double eagles, stacked as they were stored in bags and boxes, sitting on the ocean floor, their brand-new surfaces gleaming from below the natural concretion and encrustation. This coin’s patina stood out from the pack, instantly known to be a truly one of a kind, historic masterpiece of Mother Nature’s palette. The devices are sharply struck up, with full, crisp definition, even in the most minute of details of James Longacre's classic design. All of Liberty’s hair curls, all of the stars, and all of the eagle’s feathers are razor sharp. Close inspection reveals a few trivial ticks, mostly hidden by the richness and boldness of the toning, and none of these can claim any effect to the awe inspiring and seductive visual allure of this SUPERB GEM. The story of the sidewheel steamer Central America is well known among collectors ever since the treasure was discovered on September 11, 1988. After gold was discovered in the America River at Sutter’s Mill, California in 1848, a mass migration of people went west, looking to stake their claims and reap fortunes in the gold fields. Those lucky enough to find gold needed a way to convert the raw gold into currency. The overland journey to the closest federal mint would take months, so enterprising businessmen established local assay offices and coining operations. Some of these were legitimate firms whose coins were widely accepted, while others were downright fraudulent. Something needed to be done, so in 1854, a federal mint was established in San Francisco, tasked with churning out millions of gold coins per year from freshly mined ore, and gold from other sources (such as earlier “territorial” coins that were assayed and converted to federal coinage). Travel was very primitive, with overland treks being taken in Conestoga and other covered wagons and coaches. Taking this route would involve lots of risks, including starvation, disease, and possible attacks from Native American tribes. The trip could take months over uninviting terrain and hostile areas. The other option favored by many was to take a steam ship steamship from San Francisco to Panama. A newly completed rail line crossed the isthmus at its narrowest point, and another ship would take passengers along the eastern route, through the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba, then to the Eastern coast of the United States. One of the ships that made the eastern leg was the side-wheel steamer, the S.S. Central America. The 272-foot ship had made the voyage 43 times before, and its September 1857 trip should have been routine. Carrying a massive cargo of gold, valued at over $1.2 million in 1857 dollars, and 578 passengers and crew members, it was heading to New York City. The gold was to be delivered in an effort to shore up eastern and northern financial institutions that had been caught in a speculative bubble involving railroads and insurance. While sailing up the eastern seaboard from Havana, Cuba, the ship encountered a massive hurricane off the Carolina coast. On September 12, 1857, the ship foundered, taking on too much water that put out the fires in the boilers. The ship went down, taking with it all that gold and 425 souls. The loss caused a massive panic on Wall Street, with a major run on the banks. Without the precious cargo of gold coins, many banks had to close. The Panic of 1857 was one of the worst financial crises in the history of the United States. As the panic deepened, it further drove a wedge between the industrial and commercial interests of the north and the agrarian based economy of the south. Less than four years later, these differences led to the Civil War. In the 1980s, a team of deep-water explorers using state of the art equipment searched for the wreckage of the S.S. Central America, and nearly 130 years to the day, they found the shipwreck. Within a year or two, three tons of gold had been recovered. The find proved to be an excellent time capsule, revealing much about the coins and ingots of gold that were used between banks, as well as what was in people’s personal possessions. Awe inspiring amounts of gold, from sacks of gold dust, individual rare coins from various U.S., Territorial, and even foreign issues, to large quantities of double eagles direct from the mint, to gold bricks assayed by various San Francisco firms that weighed from a few to hundreds of ounces, were discovered. A long legal battle took place. The successor firms of those that insured the ship wanted to recover their payout. Finally, in 1999, the first coins and ingots hit the market in a December auction conducted by Sotheby’s in New York City. A second sale conducted by Christie’s and Spink America took place in December the following year. The remaining coins, mostly 1856 and 1857 double eagles from the San Francisco mint and private issued gold bars or ingots, were sold by a group of major dealers that formed the California Gold Marketing Group. A big splash was made at various numismatic conventions in 2000 with the Ship of Gold display, one of the most popular exhibits at that year’s ANA convention in Philadelphia. After a short while the entire treasure inventory was sold to numismatists and non-collectors alike. In the aftermarket, whenever examples popped up in auction, these historic relics were eagerly bought. Flash forward, another expedition took place in 2014. Again, after much legal drama, additional coins were brought up. These remarkable coins were conserved and graded by the experts at PCGS. This time, only 3,136 gold coins total were recovered. This coin made a huge splash when the reports of what had been recovered began hitting the press. According to the California Gold Marketing Group’s managing partner, Dwight Manley, “This 1857-S $20 has been talked about more than any of the other S.S. Central America coins,” and was the centerpiece of the 2018 edition of the Ship of Gold display on view at the Long Beach Expo. While other coins from this second recovery have been offered on the market, SUPERNOVA is the POSTER COIN for the S.S. Central America coins, and as such, is a true NATIONAL TREASURE! This is the type of coin that attracts attention of numismatists and non-numismatists alike. The history, the amazing coloration, and pristine state of preservation will entice any collector of coins, art, or important pieces of Americana. This remarkable coin will bring a RECORD PRICE for any 1857-S $20 ever sold in auction and will forever be remembered as the most important 57-S recovered from the Ship of Gold. Cert. Number 34533520 PCGS # 670713