1857-S Double Eagle SS Central America PCGS MS64 - 1857-S $20 SSCA, 20A Spiked Shield. The surfaces of this lovely 1857-S Double Eagle SS Central America are a mixture of yellow and orange gold. The coin has a certificate, box, and gold tag from PCGS showing its shipwreck pedigree. It is a near-Gem coin with satiny devices and lustrous fields, which are original and clean. The strike is razor sharp with full details on the centers of the stars, Libertys hair lines, the eagle, and the other design elements of the reverse. The dentils are strong and full on both sides.

The San Francisco Mint opened in 1854 because of the need to coin gold resulting from the California Gold Rush. In the West there was an abundance of gold bullion, nuggets and dust; however, there was also an acute shortage of circulating coinage. Congress authorized this mint to relieve the shortage and coin silver and gold and because transportation of bullion to Philadelphia was time consuming and hazardous. Because of its proximity to the Gold Rush area, San Francisco was chosen as the site of the new mint. In 1874 it moved into a new building called the Old United States Mint or the Granite Lady. It is one of the few structures that survived the earthquake of 1906. It remained in service as a mint until 1938, when the present facility opened.

The loss of the Central America triggered the Panic of 1857, which was actually caused by bank instability and generally poor economic conditions. On September 26, 1857, the Philadelphia Public Ledger made the following announcement: The distrust that has pervaded stock and financial circles for the last fortnight was considerably heightened yesterday, by announcement early in the day that the Bank of Pennsylvania had suspended payment. A meeting of the directors was immediately convened, and the business of the bank ceased.The effect of the stoppage by the Bank spread like wildfire, and almost immediately a run was made on all the other banks, which was continued up to the hour of closingthree oclock. Within a week, specie payments were suspended at New York City banks, and a nationwide depression followed.

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.

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.