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differences led to the Civil War.<br />
In the 1980s, a team of deep-water explorers using state of the<br />
art equipment searched for the wreckage of the S.S. Central<br />
America, and nearly 130 years to the day, they found the<br />
shipwreck. Within a year or two, three tons of gold had been<br />
recovered. The find proved to be an excellent time capsule,<br />
revealing much about the coins and ingots of gold that were<br />
used between banks, as well as what was in people’s personal<br />
possessions. Awe inspiring amounts of gold, from sacks of<br />
gold dust, individual rare coins from various U.S., Territiorial,<br />
and even foreign issues, to large quantities of double eagles<br />
direct from the mint, to gold bricks assayed by various San<br />
Francisco firms that weighed from a few to hundreds of<br />
ounces, were discovered.<br />
A long legal battle took place. The successor firms of those<br />
that insured the ship wanted to recover their payout. Finally, in<br />
1999, the first coins and ingots hit the market in a December<br />
auction conducted by Sotheby’s in New York City. A second<br />
sale, conducted by Christie’s and Spink America took place<br />
in December the following year. The remaining coins,<br />
mostly 1856 and 1857 double eagles from the San Francisco<br />
mint were sold by a group of major dealers that formed the<br />
California Gold Marketing Group. A big splash was made at<br />
various numismatic conventions in 2000 with the Ship of Gold<br />
display, one of the most popular exhibits at that year’s ANA<br />
convention in Philadelphia.<br />
Another expedition took place in 2014. Again, after much<br />
legal drama, additional coins were brought up, and again,<br />
conserved by the experts at PCGS. This time, only 3,154 coins<br />
total were salvaged. Our sister firm, Legend Numismatics, was<br />
given an opportunity to buy some of the FINEST examples<br />
from this second round, including the majority of the<br />
CAC-approved pieces, and many sold quickly. We have been<br />
honored with a consignment of coins from this second round.<br />
Included in this sale are some of the best known examples<br />
of 1856-S gold dollar, 1857-S quarter eagle, 1857-S half<br />
eagle, eagle, and double eagle. However, to this cataloger, the<br />
coolest, most historic piece is the near-Mint State 1853 U.S.<br />
Assay Office of Gold $20.<br />
Lots of great information is out there for collectors. In 2002,<br />
Q. David Bowers authored a 1,000+ page tome, A California<br />
Gold Rush History, featuring treasure from the S.S. Central<br />
America, that was published by the California Gold Marketing<br />
Group. The leader of the expeditions, Tommy Thompson<br />
wrote about the shipwreck and its recovery in a wonderfully<br />
illustrated book called America’s Lost Treasure. A more<br />
novel-like read is Gary Kinder’s colorfully titled, Ship of<br />
Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, gives a fuller, more descriptive<br />
accounting of the saga.<br />
The lots that follow represent relics from one of the most<br />
historically relevant shipwrecks in American history. While<br />
all shipwreck recovered coins attract lots of attention from<br />
advanced collectors and non-numismatic buyers as well, few<br />
have had the historical impact of the S.S. Central America.<br />
This is the last group to come up from the ocean floor, so this<br />
is your last opportunity to acquire these genuine treasure<br />
ship coins!<br />
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