A rare New Orleans Mint double eagle led a $22.2 million U.S. coins sale with multiple record-setting results across gold, patterns and shipwreck ingots.
By Intelligent Collector Staff | March 3, 2025
Heritage Auctions’ Feb. 27-March 2 Long Beach Expo U.S. Coins Signature Auction reached $22,246,194, led by a record-setting New Orleans Mint rarity from The Mississippi Collection of Double Eagles, Part II.
The top lot was the 1856-O $20 AU58 PCGS. Winter 1, which realized $690,000. Heritage noted that the result surpassed the previous $576,150 record set at Heritage in 2008. The coin, once part of the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, is described as the third-finest known example of the 1856-O, a premier Liberty double eagle rarity struck at the New Orleans Mint with a mintage of just 2,250.
The sale was not built around a single result. A rare 1836 P$1 Name Below Base, Judd-63 Restrike, PR63 Cameo PCGS. CAC brought $192,000, setting a new auction record for the issue. A 1896-S $10 MS67 PCGS. CAC reached $156,000, far above the previous Heritage record for the date, while the 1841 $1 PR64 PCGS. CAC also realized $156,000.
Branch-mint gold remained a central theme. The 1870-CC $20 AU53 NGC. Winter 1-A brought $588,000 after 86 bids, underscoring the pull of first-year Carson City gold. Another example, the 1870-CC $20 XF40 PCGS. Winter 1-A, reached $348,000.
Gold Rush-era material added another layer of market interest. The 1851 $50 LE Humbert Fifty Dollar, Lettered Edge, 887 Thous., 50 Reverse, MS62+ PCGS sold for $456,000, while the Kellogg & Humbert Gold Ingot. 58.77 Ounces from the S.S. Central America brought $186,000.
For sellers, the pattern is clear: rare U.S. coins perform best when rarity, provenance, condition and collector demand are all presented together. Heritage can be the best place to sell U.S. coins when a collection includes material that serious buyers recognize as condition-sensitive, historically important or rarely available in public auction.
Source: Heritage Auctions press release (March 3, 2025).