1857-S $20 SSCA (1857-S Double Eagle SS Central America) PCGS MS64. This lovely, uncirculated, shipwrecked 1857-S Double Eagle from the S.S. Central America is sharply struck especially on the centers of the stars and Libertys hair. The details of the reverse are also full and sharp as is usual for this type. Graded MS64 by PCGS, it has few surface distractions. Satiny mint luster shimmers on both sides of the coin creating eye-appealing richness.

There are at least eight varieties of the 1857-S double eagle. The present coin is the Spike Shield variety. Until the discovery of the shipwrecked 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. 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 5200 newly minted San Francisco gold coins. The loss of the Central America triggered the Panic of 1857, which was actually 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.

Now Mint the state 1857-S double eagle as well as other dates from the Central America are available today encapsulated and authenticated by the two major grading services.