1860-O Double Eagle (1860-O $20) NGC AU50 CAC. Satin smooth surfaces and residual mint luster characterize this Southern 1860-O Double Eagle. Light wear on the high points and a couple of marks in the fields keep this coin from a mint state grade, which is confirmed by CAC. This overall pleasing coin is well struck on the reverse with slight weakness on the center portion of the obverse, which is often the case for this date and branch. The coin shows Longacres Liberty in profile facing left. She is surrounded by thirteen stars with the date below. She wears a LIBERTY inscribed coronet with her hair flowing down her neck. Dentils are at the periphery of both sides of the coin. The reverse has Longacres enhanced heraldic eagle motif. The eagle looks left with its wings outstretched. Elaborate ribbons on both sides of the shield were added to the coin to signify the denomination. They are inscribed, on the left E PLURIBUS and UNUM on the right. An oval of thirteen stars is above the eagles head, and an arc of rays from wing tip to wing tip is behind the upper half of the oval. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc above the eagle, and the denomination TWENTY D. is below. Between the tail feathers and the N of TWENTY is the mintmark.

The New Orleans Mint was authorized in 1835 by President Andrew Jackson, hero of the battle of New Orleans. The building, designed by Philadelphia architect William Strickland, was made in the solid, bulky Greek Revival Style of architecture. It was the largest of the three branch mints and located at major port of entry. Unfortunately Strickland did not account for the soft ground around the site. Because of it, the building had to undergo numerous repairs throughout its history.

Authorized to produce gold and silver, the New Orleans Mint struck quarter eagles and dimes in 1839. It operated from 1838 to 1909. In that time period 427 million silver and gold coins with the O mintmark were coined. By the mid 1850s denominations made in New Orleans included three cent silver pieces, half dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars, gold dollars, quarter eagles, three dollar pieces, half eagles, eagles, and, of course, double eagles. Each year between the beginning of August and the end of November, the mint closed because of the annual outbreak of yellow fever.

James Longacre created the design for the double eagle, which was an original work that lasted until well into the twentieth century. Much of his work showed his excellent sense of proportion. Although criticized for creating blundered dies, most likely those were done by the Chief Coiner and Longacre nemesis, Franklin Peale. Peale opposed Longacres appointment as Chief Engraver because he felt that Longacre would interfere with the profitable medal-making business that he ran using the mint facilities. In 1854 Peale was fired by the President, and Longacres job became much easier. Longacre was responsible for creating many designs including the Liberty Head dollar and double eagle, the Indian Princess gold dollar and three dollar pieces, the two cent piece, the shield nickel, many five cent pattern pieces, and the Indian head cent. His dies were used on hundreds of trial pieces and pattern coins.

All pre Civil War gold from the New Orleans Mint, such as the present piece, is rare because of low original mintages and low survival rates. The 1860-O double eagle had an original mintage of only 6,600 pieces. Both major grading services show a total of 113 coins certified in all grades, and this number does not account for crossovers or resubmissions. CAC reports a total of a mere 2 coins, 1 in XF45 and the present coin in AU-50 as of 1/4/2010. This is a very rare Type 1 double eagle in outstanding condition with excellent eye appeal.