One hundred and fifty years ago, this week, the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Lt. General U.S. Grant drove the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia out of their trenches in Petersburg and the Appomattox campaign began. On April 9, 1865, at the McLean house in Appomattox Courthouse, VA, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant, effectively ending the Civil War in Virginia after four years of bitter, bloody campaigning. The war that was expected to last less than three months when the first call for volunteers was made in April 1861, had claimed the lives of over 620,000 soldiers. Less than one week later, President Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while enjoying a night out at Ford’s Theater.
With that historic background in mind, we present this lovely 1865 double eagle, graded MS-63 by NGC. Many of the high grade survivors of this date came from the recovery of the S.S. Republic, a steam ship that was carrying gold and silver coin to New Orleans in October 1865. It sank en route and the treasure was recovered about a dozen years ago. While not noted on the NGC insert, it is likely that the lustrous coin we are offering in this week’s iAuction, the official auction for the Michigan State Numismatic Society’s spring show, came from that recovery. Sharply struck with choice quality surfaces, if you collect Type I double eagles or Civil War numismatics, be sure to visit StacksBowers.com to see and bid on this fabulous coin and all the items offered in our current iAuction.
For more information about consigning to any of our sales, including our weekly iAuctions, contact any one of our consignment directors, in California, New York, or New Hampshire. If you would like to meet with our experts, be sure to look at our upcoming show schedule. We look forward to speaking with you about your coins and helping you realize top dollar for them in one of our upcoming sales!
