An 1899 Twenty Dollar PR67 Ultra Cameo NGC sold for $468,000 to lead Heritage Auctions’ Long Beach Expo US Coins Signature Auction September 14-17.

An 1899 Twenty Dollar, PR67 Ultra Cameo NGC sold for $468,000 to lead Heritage Auctions’ Long Beach Expo US Coins Signature Auction September 14-17. The coins event broke several records and totaled $8,232,232, while the currency event reached $7,313,357, for a combined total of $15,545,589.

The $468,000 result for the 1899 double eagle set a record, surpassing the previous mark of $218,500 that has been held since 2008. PCGS Coinfacts lists just thirty-two surviving examples in all grades, with only ten in Gem condition or finer. This example, one of eleven lots in the auction’s Premier Session from the Mercury Rising Collection, is one of just three that NGC has graded PR67 Ultra Cameo. There are none that carry a higher NGC grade.

“It takes an extraordinary coin to rise to the top of an auction with such consistent high quality, and this 1899 double eagle is that kind of coin,” said Todd Imhof, executive vice president at Heritage Auctions. “It is such an exceptional rarity – the recorded original mintage was just 84 proofs – and over time, that total is dwindled, to somewhere around 30. Of the survivors, this example carries the highest grade, and that includes the one that is in the Smithsonian Institution. The winning bidder acquired an exceptional trophy-level coin that immediately becomes a collection centerpiece.”

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An 1870 Type Two Double Eagle PR65 Ultra Cameo NGC. CAC. JD-1, Low R.7 ended at $456,000. It is one of five or six survivors confirmed in private hands from an original mintage of just 35 examples struck, CAC-approved.

Drawing twenty-five bids, an 1879 Flowing Hair Stella, PR65 brought $216,000. One of the most popular of all U.S. gold coins, the 1879 Flowing Hair is a difficult coin to obtain because of its original mintage of just 425 pieces.

Other top lots included but were not limited to:

§ A 1907 Liberty Double Eagle, PR66 Cameo $210,000

§ An 1879 PR64 Cameo example – Flowing Hair stella $198,000

§ A 1907 High Relief Twenty, MS67 $180,000

§ An 1861-S Paquet Double Eagle, AU55 PCGS: $138,000

§ An 1862 Twenty Dollar, MS63+ NGC, CAC: $114,000

§ A 1915-S Panama-Pacific Fifty Dollar, MS63+ NGC: $108,000

§ A 1915-S Panama-Pacific Fifty Dollar, MS64 PCGS: $99,000

§ An 1803 BD-3 Eagle, MS63 PCGS, CAC: $96,000

§ An 1854-D Three Dollar Gold, AU58 NGC: $93,000

Complete results for the U.S. Coins event can be found here.