Owner Comments:
The 1859-O issue is the rarest No Motto New Orleans eagle. However, in higher grade (AU and above) it is not as rare as the very first of this series, the 1841-O New Orleans eagle. An estimated 2,300 were minted, and only 30 - 35 survive today, according to QD Bowers, or 40 - 60, according to Winter.
Q. D. Bowers calls this coin the finest known example of this very rarer eagle.
The coin is the Eliasberg pedigree, rejoining the 1854-O half eagle and the 1846-O Quarter Eagle of the Louisiana Purchase collection. Other pedigrees of this coin include Joseph C. Mitchelson of Tariffville, CT, who in 1908 sold it to John H. Clapp. Mitchelson was one of the foremost collectors of his day. John H. passed the coin off to his son, John M. Clapp. In 1942, through the offices of Joseph and Morton Stack, the Clapp Collection was sold intact to Louis E. Eliasberg of Baltimore, MD, for $100,000, tying a record price. Louis Eliasberg went on to complete his very famous collection.
The coin was recently purchased by me from the C.W. Collection in an AMR auction of August, 2006. I paid a boatload for this coin, probably setting some records, but I believe it to be worth it.
This coin has extraordinary eye appeal, with much frosty luster left in the fields, very original overall, and no distracting marks, which is why Bowers calls it finest known.
This coin is a highlight of the Louisiana Purchase collection, and in particular, is the most special coin of the Eagle set.