LOS ANGELES (AP) — A rare $20 “double eagle” gold coin from the post-California Gold Rush era captured the attention of passionate coin collectors during a Southern California auction on Tuesday afternoon. However, only one bidder left the auction victorious, after paying a hefty sum.
The 1870 coin, minted in Carson City, Nevada, was sold for $1.44 million, including the buyer’s premium, which is a fee paid to the auction house, Stack’s Bowers Galleries. Originally, only 3,789 of these coins were produced, and experts estimate that just 40 to 50 examples remain today, according to coin historian John Kraljevich.
The auction house did not disclose the identity of the buyer.
Before 1849, the largest denomination of gold coins was the $10 “eagle.” However, the discovery of large gold deposits following the California Gold Rush led to the creation of the $20 “double eagle” coin, Kraljevich explained.
This particular coin had last been sold at a Stack’s auction in 1986 for a mere $23,100.
“This coin had been completely off the radar,” Kraljevich remarked. “When it resurfaced after being off the market for 25 or 30 years, it was like discovering a new treasure.”
The bidding for the coin quickly soared, with the price reaching $800,850 before the live auction even began. Eventually, the coin, which came from the Bernard Richards collection, sold for the $1.44 million price tag. It is considered the finest known example of its type, according to the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). Although the auction had hoped it would exceed $2 million, the sale still marked an impressive price.
For comparison, the second-highest graded example of this coin was sold for $1.62 million in a November 2021 auction. Kraljevich noted that the value of collector’s coins surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, as more people turned to investing in tangible hobbies like coin collecting.
As for the intrinsic value of the coin, the gold it contains — just under one ounce — is worth approximately $2,600.
