Owner Comments:
Those who know Type 1 Double Eagles know this is one of the more fascinating New Orleans Issue dates. But hold on, this story is even more fun than you can imagine.
The 1861 issue date is historically significant due to the fact that it was struck under three different authorities:
The Union: 5,000, struck from Jan 1 to Jan 26, 1861
The State of Louisiana (seceded): 9,750 struck from Jan 26 to Mar 31
Confederacy (newly formed): 2,991, struck from Apr 1 to Apr 30, 1861
So, can you tell which coins were struck under which auspices? Three sets of dies were sent to the New Orleans mint in December 1860, and it has been always assumed that only one pair of dies was used. However, there are three varieties of 1861-O issue: 1) Weak date 2) Weak date with crude series of scribe lines partly restoring the 8 and 6 in the date (the 8's bottom is like a "V") and 3) Strong Date with obverse die crack that begins at the rim atop the denticles over the second star extending upward to near the chin of Liberty. The Strong Date shows coins show no repunching or remnants of the scribe lines seen on the later die state(s) of the weak date coins.
Any time an 1861-O is offered for sale, the story that some were minted under the Confederency is mentioned. However, I have seen that depending on the type, a different argument is used that that type was the kind likely minted last.
Doug Winter and Dr. Joseph Gaines have come up with a highly plausibly theory, as described in Doug's book. Based on an exhaustive review of auction records and images available, Doug has determined that approximately one fifth of the coins offered had a strong date and showed the obverse die crack of this variety. When one considers that about 17% of the original mintage figure of this issues (2,991 of 17,741) this closely matches the above percentage. The die crack on this variety, which does not exist on the other varieties, suggests that a second obverse die was, in fact, used. Doug thus posits that this second die was used by the Confederacy (after the first die date with the scribes was not deemed acceptable). It is Doug's strong belief that the Strong Date variety was minted by the Conferency. It could not have been same date with Stong Date first, as the mint did not have the capacity to repair a broken die, and the weak date do not show the aforementioned die crack.
The Louisiana Purchase collection has two coins of this issue, a Weak Date (NGC AU55, var #1, listed here) and a Strong Date (NGC AU53 PQ 1579498-003, Heritage February 2008 Long Beach Sale, Lot #2682), which in actually nicer in appearance than the Weak Date. It has a proof-line luster and a very strong "1861" date. This Strong Date 1861-0 NGC AU53 is listed in my shadow set, "Jefferson's Purchase".
The Strong Date coin in the Louisiana Purchase collection is even more unique: it has clash marks on the obverse and reverse. On the obverse the clash marks are similar to two of three of those associated with the 1859-O Double Eagle: above the ear (shield horizontal marks) and on the neck (a star). On the reverse, it has a unique mark that curves from the right side of the eagles head and comes straigth out the top (the bottom curl of the hair). Please see the Heritage image listed above to see what I am talking about. When thinking about clash marks, one must think upside and mirror image to understand where on the opposite side die the mark came from.
I have not seen any other Strong Date with these clash marks, making this coin very historic and very unique. The star in the neck is just like the even rarer 1859-O, the finest known of which is listed in this collection. This 1861-O has a strong strikes on the obverse and no distracting marks on either side.
The 1861-O is the last Type 1 Double Eagle minted in New Orleans, an is the seventh rarest of the very rare series of New Orleans Double Eagles.