This 1851-O eagle went down with the SS Republic off the Georgia coast in 1865 and rested on the sea floor until 2003. Struck at the New Orleans Mint from a run of just 263,000 pieces, it carries both a scarce Southern mintmark and a documented shipwreck pedigree. Most New Orleans eagles of this era were worn down in hard commercial use or melted, so survivors with honest detail are hard to locate. The recovery gives this coin a traceable story that few pre-Civil War gold pieces can claim.

Christian Gobrecht's Liberty faces left in a beaded coronet inscribed LIBERTY, with her hair drawn back in a bun and thirteen stars ringing the portrait above the 1851 date. The strike is bold through the coronet and the star centers, while the legends stand out clearly against even surfaces. On the reverse a heraldic eagle spreads its wings behind a striped shield, clutching an olive branch and a bundle of arrows. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA arcs above with TEN D. below, and the O mintmark sits directly beneath the eagle in strong relief.

NGC graded this eagle AU-55, a grade that keeps nearly all of the original design detail with only light friction across the cheek, coronet, and wing tips. The surfaces show warm yellow-gold color with scattered field marks from circulation and the usual faint handling expected of a seagoing survivor. Properly graded AU examples of the 1851-O with shipwreck attribution rarely come to market, and the combination of sharp devices and pleasing color gives this piece real eye appeal for the assigned grade. A welcome addition to any collection of early New Orleans gold or Civil War era shipwreck coinage. The coin pictured is the exact coin you will receive.

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