The Queen of Carson City Gold: The 1870-CC $20 Double Eagle

by Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

An 1870-CC Double Eagle ($20 gold coin) is ‘again in the news’ as one will be auctioned by B&M during the evening of Friday, Nov. 21st, at the Baltimore Convention Center. It is graded “EF-45” by the Numismatic Guaranty Corp. (NGC). It is certainly the same 1870-CC Double Eagle that was sold by Stack’s on January 16, 2008 in New York, at which time it was not certified.

Stack’s auctioned another, the Husky collection 1870-CC, in June 2008, which was NGC certified Extremely Fine-40 at the time. For a price of $299,000, George Huang of Legend Numismatics bought the Husky 1870-CC. Though I am not certain, it is probably the same 1870-CC that was sold, in July, at the Legend Numismatics table during the ANA Convention. That 1870-CC is PCGS graded EF-40 and has a green sticker of approval from the CAC. Reportedly, it privately sold for $345,000 at the ANA convention, though I have not confirmed this price.

The Ohringer 1870-CC was auctioned for this same amount, though it might have later privately sold for more. The offering of the second part of the ‘Ohringer’ collection was a centerpiece of the September 2008 auction extravaganza conducted by the Beverly Hills firm of Ira & Larry Goldberg. Bob Green of Park Avenue Numismatics did not acquire this 1870-CC during the Ohringer 2 auction session, however he later made arrangements with the owner of this coin, or with the owner’s representative, and then Green sold the Ohringer 1870-CC to a collector.

While the 1870-CC that Legend sold in July might be technically stronger, the Ohringer 1870-CC certainly has more detail. It is PCGS graded EF-45 and is very sharp for an Extremely Fine grade 1870-CC. The numerous contact marks on Miss Liberty’s face and other issues keep it from grading AU-50 or higher. As a rule, 1870-CC Double Eagles have a very large number of imperfections, much more so than most other rare date Double Eagles.

One of the highest quality 1870-CC Double Eagles sold privately in the middle of August 2007. It had surfaced at the 2007 ANA Convention. As it did not come from a famous collection, at least not in recent decades, I will refer to it as the Green 1870-CC to distinguish it from others. It is NGC graded AU-53 and was PCGS graded AU-50. I have identified it as the 1870-CC that Heritage auctioned in Sept. 2003 in Long Beach, California. Bob Green of Park Avenue Numismatics sold this 1870-CC to a Nevada collector for an amount greater than $400,000! (more…)

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