In January 1986, a brand new Cadillac El Dorado cost $24,251, or $1,150 more than coin collector Bernard Richards paid for an 1870-CC $20 gold coin in a Stack’s Rare Coins auction that month. On Monday, November 25, 2024, successor firm Stack’s Bowers Galleries sold the same coin for $1,440,000, a robust annualized return on his investment of 11.49%. The Cadillac coupe is worth about $3,600 today.
The 1870-CC $20 double eagle is one of the marquee rarities among United States gold coins. The $20 denomination traces its lineage directly to the discovery of gold in California in 1848, an event that forever altered the trajectory of American history. While the Founding Fathers envisioned no coin larger than a $10 gold eagle, the discovery of massive gold deposits in California inspired the United States Congress to authorize the production of a gold coin that was twice as big to facilitate turning California’s golden riches into spendable and countable money. The denomination was authorized in 1849 and first struck for circulation in 1850.
In 1870, a branch mint was established in Carson City, Nevada to answer a similar need to convert metallic riches into coins: the discovery of Nevada’s famed Comstock Lode, the largest deposit of silver in North America. While the mint in the capital of the new state of Nevada was built primarily to strike silver coins, enough gold was discovered in smaller deposits in places like Nevada, Montana, and Utah to necessitate local production of gold coins as well. The year the mint opened, only 3,789 double eagles were struck, each bearing a tiny CC mark on the reverse to represent their mint of origin.
Today, only a few dozen coins from that issue survive, likely numbering between 40 and 50. Most saw hard use in the commerce of the Old West that left them worn, nicked, or damaged. The Bernard Richards specimen is generally acclaimed as the finest extant survivor, receiving a grade of About Uncirculated 55 from PCGS.
Mr. Richards, a construction company executive from Brooklyn, formed a collection of rare gold coins in the 1970s and 1980s as a hobby, one of many he pursued ranging from stamps to tennis to playing the harmonica. His heirs had little idea that their father’s weekend avocation represented an investment beyond their wildest dreams. At press time, 48 of the 173 double eagles Richards collected have been sold for a grand total of $3,733,080, a fine payday for a hobby Richards enjoyed immensely.
To view results from the Stack’s Bowers Galleries November 2024 Rarities Night Session besides the 1870-CC $20, visit StacksBowers.com. To inquire about consigning to one of the firm’s upcoming auctions call 800-458-4646 or email [email protected].
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