The 1858-S $20 double eagle exhibits good overall quality, with an above average strike and notably clean surfaces for a San Francisco issue. Luster is typically appealing, as well, and many original examples remain that have managed to evade conservation and mishandling. Conditionally rare, the vast majority of surviving examples exist in Very Fine and Extremely Fine grades, with AU pieces slightly scarcer. Despite the seemingly liberal mintage, only two to three dozen Mint State pieces are available to collectors, the finest of which is an MS-63 (PCGS) from the collection of Bill Crawford.

We wrote the following in our April 2022 Auction Catalog, saying: "The 1858-S is a significant condition rarity in Mint State with only a few dozen examples known. Some 1858-S double eagles were reported in the treasure recovered from the S.S. Republic shipwreck. However, that loss occurred seven years after 1858-S twenties were minted, and most of the recovered coins were in AU condition, with only a few at the lowest end of Uncirculated condition, and heavily abraded."

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in April 2022 as part of the Fairmont Collection, Hendricks Set, where it realized $40,800.