US Coins

Paquet Reverse 1861-P double eagle in FUN exhibit

By Paul Gilkes

Published: Dec 15, 2016, 6 AM

The 1861-P Coronet, Paquet Reverse, $20 gold double eagle carries modifications by U.S. Mint engraver Anthony C. Paquet to the original reverse by Chief Engraver James B. Longacre.

Original images courtesy of Numismatic Guaranty Corp.

Insured for $8 million, this 1861 Coronet, Paquet Reverse $20 gold double eagle will be part of a $16 million exhibit by Monaco Rare Coins Jan. 5 to 8 during the Florida United Numismatists convention in Fort Lauderdale.

Images courtesy of Numismatic Guaranty Corp.

horseneck-1854-0-twenty-ngc-au-58-merged

Recovered from the SS Republic shipwreck and tied for finest known, this 1854-O Coronet $20 gold double eagle, graded NGC About Uncirculated 58, is one of the highlights of the Horseneck Collection of Type I double eagles that will be displayed by Monaco Rare Coins at the 2017 FUN convention.

Images courtesy of Numismatic Guaranty Corp.

After its first display, illustrated here, during the 2016 American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money in Anaheim, Calif., the Horseneck Collection of Type I double eagles will make its East Coast debut at the 2017 FUN convention.

Image by and courtesy of Donn Pearlman.

Insured for $8 million, the recently sold finest known 1861 Coronet, Paquet Reverse gold $20 double eagle will be displayed as part of a $16 million exhibit being staged by Monaco Rare Coins Jan. 5 to 7 during the Florida United Numismatists convention in Fort Lauderdale.

This is the first time in a decade for the coin to be on public exhibit.

According the participants in the transaction, the Paquet Reverse double eagle, one of just two examples known, was recently purchased by Larry Lee, president of Coin and Bullion Reserves in Panama City, Fla., from Brian Hendelson, president of Classic Coin Co. in Bridgewater, N.J. Lee is also principal owner of the George O. Walton example of the 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coin.

The participants did not disclose a price.

The Paquet Reverse double eagle, graded and encapsulated Mint State 67 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., will be displayed at NGC’s table 200 on the FUN bourse with the 46-coin Horseneck Collection of Type I Double Eagles, which contains many finest known examples. According to Monaco Vice President Adam Crum, the Horseneck Collection is also separately insured for $8 million.

“The Paquet Reverse $20 denomination gold coin is named after Anthony C. Paquet, a mid-19th century engraver at the United States Mint, and only a few of them are known from the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints dated 1860 and 1861,” explains Crum, author of the reference book, An Insider’s Guide to Collecting Type I Double Eagles. “The reverse side of Paquet’s design has slightly taller, [more] slender letters than the similar reverse design by [Chief] Mint engraver James B. Longacre on other double eagles of that era.”

The Horseneck Collection comprises 46 double eagles dated from 1850 through 1866, with a dozen coins having been recovered from famous shipwrecks — the 1857 sinking of the fabled ‘Ship of Gold,’ the SS Central America; the 1865 wreck of the SS Republic; and the 1865 sinking of the SS Brother Jonathan.”

The set’s 1854-O Coronet double eagle, graded NGC About Uncirculated 58 and tied for finest known, was recovered from the SS Republic in 2003, Crum said.

Previous owners of the 1861 Paquet Revcerse double eagle include Lorin G. Parmelee, F.C.C. Boyd, King Farouk I of Egypt and Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb.