96US

Session Four - Monday February 13, 2017 4:00 pm PST

MPORTANT

1861-S $20 L

IBERTY

. P

ACQUET

EVERSE

1351

1861-S. Pacquet reverse

PCGS graded AU-53

. Nice light golden toning. The strike is sharp and the surfaces are pleasing to study as

there are a minimal nicks on the devices or in the fields. The Mint' s assistant engraver, Anthony C. Pacquet was given the task of updating

Longacre' s master hub for the reverse of the double eagle. His concept left the central device intact but changed the style of lettering around

the periphery of the reverse, employing taller and thinner letters for UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and TWENTY D. In making this change

somehow the rim of the hub became much narrower as well, thus any struck coins would have their devices and fields more open to contact

and wear without the usual thicker style rim. The Mint Director Snowden apparently noticed the narrow rim after initial Philadelphia produc-

tion in early 1861 and on January 5, 1861 ordered the Philadelphia mintage of these Pacquet reverse coins to be melted. All but two appar-

ently were melted and these survive in private hands today. Snowden telegraphed the San Francisco Mint and told them to use the old style

Longacre dies left over from 1860 to continue coinage of the double eagle. However, at least two Pacquet reverse dies had been sent to the

San Francisco Mint. No other Pacquet dies were sent to New Orleans, or if they were sent, no coins survive of this style. The "S" Mintmark is

rather squeezed into the space below the eagle' s tail and nearly touches the tall letters below.

For the San Francisco Pacquet reverse coins, only 19,250 were struck, and perhaps 200 or so exist today. Most of the known coins were dis-

covered in gold hoards in European banks and these survived entirely at random. One example was recovered in the S.S. Republic shipwreck.

Of those known today they reflect the usual statistics for a Type 1 double eagle, the majority fall into the VF or EF grade range with a smaller

fraction seen as nice as About Uncirculated. No San Francisco Pacquet double eagles apparently survived in Mint State, while both known

examples of the Philadelphia Pacquet reverse are Mint State, likely saved as a memento of this attempted design update. Pacquet remains

known for his incredible die work making medals at the mint, and while his new style was not adopted because of the narrow rim, his elegant

and tall lettering offers a bold glimpse into his artistic talent.

Pop 13; 9 finer, 4 in 55, 5 in 58.

(

PCGS # 8936

)

Estimated Value ............................................................................................................................................................$70,000 - 80,000

Enlargement