1865-S $20 (1865-S Double Eagle) SS Republic Small S, NGC AU58. Bright mint luster and a sharp strike characterize this Civil War dated, Western branch mint, Type 1 double eagle that has the provenance of the ill-fated S.S. Republic. Full details are seen on the centers of the stars and the design details of the reverse. Just a trace of wear on its highest points keeps this coin from a mint state grade. The surfaces are original, clean, and free of notable distractions.

During the California Gold Rush, the S.S. Republic, then called the Tennessee, was used to transport miners to the shore of Panama and Nicaragua to travel to the California gold fields. For several years the ship was used to carry immigrants to the Unites States from Mexico. When the Civil War began, the ship was docked in New Orleans. She was seized by the Confederates and used as a blockade runner. After the capture of New Orleans by the North, she became the flagship of Admiral Farragut for the end of the Mississippi Campaign. In 1864, she resumed transporting passengers and cargo from New York to New Orleans. The next year she sank in a hurricane off the coast of Savannah. In 2003, the Odyssey Republic Expedition, after twelve years of searching, discovered and began the recovery of the ships treasure. The cargo had been untouched for 138 years approximately 100 miles off the coast of Georgia. Lost Gold of the Republic, a film produced by National Graphic documents the discovery and recovery. The coins recovered from the S.S. Republic are labeled as such by NGC and its affiliate NCS not only to note the historic significance of the coin, but also to indicate that these coins have been professionally conserved. The blue NGC tag was used exclusively for coins from the Republic.

James B. Longacre designed the double eagle. The obverse design shows a Liberty head facing left wearing coronet inscribed LIBERTY. Her hair is tightly tied in the back with two loose curls hanging down her neck to the end of the truncation. She is surrounded by thirteen six pointed stars with the date below. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with elaborate ribbons on both sides of the shield extending from the top corner down to the eagles tail feathers. The ribbons are inscribed, on the left E PLURIBUS and UNUM on the right. The ribbons were added to the design to symbolize the denomination since this was the first twenty dollar coin. There is an oval of thirteen stars above the eagles head and an arc of rays from wing tip to wing tip 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. The mint mark is between the tail feathers and the N of TWENTY.

With an original mintage of 1,042,500, it is surprising that prior to the recovery of coins from the Republic and the S.S. Brother Jonathan, this piece was very rare. The great collection of Harry W. Bass Jr. contained only an XF specimen. No better grade could be found at the time. However, more than 500 were found on the Brother Jonathan and nearly 250 were found on the Republic. In 1999 most were sold in a single auction as individual lots.