1855-S Double Eagle SSCA - 1855-S $20.00 S.S. Central America, 14B Faint S, PCGS AU53 CAC. This eye-appealing 1855-S double eagle has the provenance of the shipwreck S.S. Central America. The coin, which is the Faint S variety, has subdued mint luster within protected areas. The strong strike shows full details on the centers of the stars and the design elements of the reverse. The coin has light wear on its highest points, and the surfaces are original and clean for the grade. The CAC sticker indicates that the coin is a premium quality piece and fully merits the assigned grade.

Until the discovery of the S.S. Central America, 1850s double eagles in mint condition were virtually unavailable. 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. The net registered treasure was $1,291,189.43. An additional $125,000 was rumored to have been taken aboard in Havana. Another $1,200,000 was estimated to have been passenger gold or private, unregistered gold on board. Of course, the exact amount of the treasure will never be known.

The Central America 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.

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. 

 Most of the 1855-S double eagles seen today are in VF or XF condition. There are eight varieties of this coin listed by PCGS. Their population report lists 15 Faint S double eagles of this date in AU53 condition with 44 better. At CAC, as of June 2012, there are 2 in AU53 with 1 better.