1855-S Double Eagle SS Central America - 1855-S $20 SSCA PCGS AU53 CAC. 14B Faint S. This 1855-S Double Eagle is from the ill-fated S.S. Central America, and its gold label from PCGS documents its provenance. The coin is well struck with muted mint luster in protected areas on original surfaces. Full details are present on the centers of the stars and the design elements of the reverse. Light wear and light surface abrasions, none requiring individual description, keep this coin from a Mint State grade. The CAC sticker confirms that it is a premium quality piece, which fully merits the assigned grade.

Until the discovery of the S.S. Central America, 1850s double eagles in AU condition were rare. The ship, originally called the S.S. George Law, was a United States mail steamship. In 1857 it sank off the coast of the Carolinas because of a huge hurricane. It was a three-mast, side-wheel steamship that traveled between Panama and New York. The journey took approximately 21 days. In the five years prior to its sinking, it has been estimated that the Central America carried about $150 million worth of gold or one-third of all of the gold mined in California. The ship was 272 feet long and had 578 passengers and crew on board. It also had on board over 35,000 pieces of mail and gold bars, nuggets, dust, and 5,200 newly minted San Francisco gold coins from the West, of which the present coin is one. The loss of the Central America triggered the Panic of 1857, which was caused by bank instability and generally poor economic conditions.

There are two different historical views of the cause of the shipwreck. Cedric Ridgely-Nevitt in 1950 said. The foundering of the Central America can best be laid to the inherent structural weakness of a wooden ship so twisted and torn by wind and sea that some part of the water-tight shell gave way. This view is in contrast to that of Erik Heyl, who wrote in 1953, The chief engineer of the CENTRAL AMERICA turned out to be a thoroughgoing coward. He jumped into the last lifeboat as it was still loading, having only half-a-dozen people in it, and by brandishing a huge knife prevented others from leaving the steamer and getting into the boat.the wreck of the CENTRAL AMERICA is due solely to the cowardice of the chief engineer; when he saw water leaking into the engine and boiler rooms, he just quit cold. Presumably if the chief engineer had kept the engine running, the Captain would have been able to keep the ship afloat.

In 1985, the Columbus-America Discovery Group raised ten million dollars and began to search for the wreck. They found it at a depth of 8,500 feet off the coast of South Carolina. It is estimated that the total coins, ingots, and gold bars were worth more than one hundred million dollars.

In its population report, PCGS lists 8 varieties for the 1855-S Double Eagle. The 14B Faint S variety has 15 certified in AU53 condition with 44 better. NGC has 0 in AU53 with 4 better, and as of July 2012, CAC has confirmed 2 in AU53 with 1 better.