Lot 1284
1879-O $20 Liberty. PCGS graded EF-45. The New Orleans Mint was closed at the start of the Civil War and remained closed many years afterward. After passage of the 1878 Bland-Allison Act, the government needed every available coinage facility, including New Orleans, for Morgan dollar production. Reopening in 1879, the Louisiana facility coined nearly 3 million silver dollars, along with 1,500 eagles and 2,325 double eagles.The '79-O is the only Type Three twenty from the New Orleans mint and as such is of considerable importance to type collectors. And its low mintage gives it an everlasting appeal to date and mintmark collectors. (PCGS Pop. 13 in EF-45, only 25 graded higher, the highest grade being a single MS-60 example, total of 66 in all grades, 9/24/11).
Estimate $15,000 - 20,000.
Realized: $32,500