Tag: New Orleans Mint

1860-O Seated Liberty Dollar NGC MS65

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Only 3 Graded Higher

A mintage of 515,000 silver dollars was achieved at the New Orleans Mint in 1860, most of which was earmarked for export. Some of the mintage was placed into circulation and any remaining dollars were delivered into storage. No one knows exactly how many coins were released from the Treasury during the 1962-1964 distribution, but David Bowers claims to never have seen an MS64 or MS65 example from the Treasury hoard. Most coins were low-grade Uncirculated examples — roughly handled during repeated shuffling and counting while stored, and heavily bagmarked as a result. Bruce Amspacher called the 1860-O date a “Quaker Oats dollar” because it looked like it was shot from guns. Relatively common in low Mint State grades, the 1860-O issue joins all other Seated Liberty dollars as rare in Gem condition and extremely rare any finer.

The NGC population is only 8 with 3 graded higher.

Listed at $37,200 in the CDN CPG and $30,000 in the NGC price guide.

Offered at $22,600

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Elusive 1895-O Morgan Dollar NGC MS61

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Silver dollar production declined drastically at all U.S. mints in the mid-1890s. Following the Panic of 1893 and the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act there was no commercial demand for the coins and no official mandate to produce them. Accordingly, the New Orleans Mint struck a small mintage of just 450,000 Morgan dollars that year. Unfortunately, the issue was not well-produced and many examples seen have weak strike characteristics and subdued mint luster. Most of the mintage circulated widely near the time of issue and the 1895-O was not well-represented in the Treasury releases of the 1960s. As a result, the 1895-O can be located in circulated grades without much difficulty today, but it is the third rarest Morgan dollar in Mint State grades behind the elusive 1892-S and the famous key 1893-S. The one offered here is lightly toned, lustrous and closer in appearance to our non-slab images than our slab-shot.

 The NGC population is 60 with 54 graded higher.  

Listed at $20,000 in the NGC price guide.

Offered at $16,985 (ACH, Bank Wire, add 3.5% for Major CC & PayPal)

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Nearly Mint State $5 Indian Rarity – 1909-O Indian Half Eagle NGC AU58

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The New Orleans Mint was the only Southern branch to resume coinage operations following the Civil War. Interestingly, its survival as a minting facility can be attributed in part to the same legislation that brought about the coinage of millions of unneeded standard silver dollars. The Bland-Allison Act of February 1878, called for the Treasury Department to purchase monthly 2 to 4 million dollars worth of silver bullion, and to have it coined into new silver dollars which would largely be stored in government vaults. The sudden demand in coinage operations mandated by the law virtually necessitated the reopening of the branch mint in New Orleans, which resumed coinage operations in 1879.

However, the New Orleans Mint’s days were nonetheless numbered. In 1904, coinage of Morgan silver dollars was discontinued and construction was begun on a modern, high-capacity branch mint in Denver, Colorado. Silver and gold coin production at the Louisiana branch dwindled after 1906, when the Denver Mint opened, and by 1909, the need for continued operations at the Southern facility was virtually dissolved. On April 1, of that year, coinage was suspended, and in 1911, the dismantling of the outdated machinery was begun.

Coinage in the first three months of 1909, prior to operations suspension, consisted primarily of dimes, with more than 2.2 million pieces struck; quarter production amounted to only 712,000 coins, and halves to just 945,400 pieces. The only gold coinage at New Orleans in 1909, consisted of a paltry 34,200 half eagles. Interestingly, this was the first issue of this denomination struck there since 1894.

In addition to its popularity as the only O-mint issue of Pratt’s Indian Head type, the 1909-O half eagle is also a significant key date within the series. The 1929 is rarer in the absolute sense, but in Mint State, the 1909-O is the less often seen coin.

Offered at $16,700 delivered

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Mint $20 Rarity – 1861-O Liberty Double Eagle NGC AU55

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The New Orleans Mint struck a small mintage of 17,741 Liberty double eagles in the early part of 1861, on the brink of the Civil War. Noted gold specialist Doug Winter reports only 5,000 of those coins were struck before January 26, while the New Orleans Mint was still operating under federal authority. Another 9,750 examples were produced between January 26 and March 31, while the State of Louisiana was the governing authority. A final production of 2,991 specimens was achieved under the auspices of the Confederacy, before the Mint shut its doors on April 30. Although three obverse dies were sent to the New Orleans Mint, it seems all the coins were struck from the same die pair. Most of the coins show some weakness in the numerals of the date, toward the bottom. About one fifth of the surviving population features a strong date, with a die crack from the rim near star 2 to Liberty’s chin. Attempts have been made to determine which coins were struck first and which were produced by the Confederacy, but there is no general agreement at this time.
Collecting double eagles was not popular in the 19th century, as the cost of assembling a collection of twenty dollar gold coins was prohibitive for most numismatists of the period. Little attention was paid to branch mint issues and the few wealthy collectors who did assemble date runs of large denomination gold coins usually preferred to order proof from the Philadelphia Mint to update their collection. As a result, few high-quality examples of the 1861-O were saved for numismatic purposes and no more than 150-175 specimens survive today in all grades. Most examples seen are in the XF40 to AU50 grade range. Winter notes, “Properly graded AU55 and AU58 coins are very rare, and I haven’t seen more than 3-5 with claims to an Uncirculated grade.”

In hand, this example looks far better than it shows in our images and it exhibits considerable luster and flash. The NGC population is 15 (one of which is designated “Star”) with 22 graded higher.

Listed at $72,000 in the CDN CPG and $75,000 in the NGC price guide.

Offered at $69,900 Delivered

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Very Rare 1847-O Liberty Quarter Eagle PCGS MS63

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 In 1847 the New Orleans Mint was less than a decade old, at least in terms of coinage manufacture — construction began in 1835 and was completed in 1839 — and the facility set numerous records in the year. The eagle coinage for 1847 was the single largest O-mint production, coming in at 571,000 pieces, and even today examples are readily available through the AU level.
The quarter eagle mintage was also generous, at 124,000 pieces, but surviving examples are scarce in AU condition and legitimately rare in Unc. The PCGS population is only 3 with 3 graded higher.

Listed at $21,000 in the CDN CPG and $22,500 in the PCGS price guide.

Offered at $21,900

We do business the old fashioned way, we speak with you.

(800) 257.3253
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM CST M-F
Private, Portable, Divisible Wealth Storage

Price is based on payment via ACH, Bank Wire Transfer or Personal Check.
Major Credit Cards Accepted, add 3.5%
Offer subject to availability.