The 1861 Paquet Double Eagle – The Coin That Almost Wasn’t

Two coins. One design controversy. A Civil War deadline.
And a story that still electrifies American numismatics.

The 1861 Paquet Double Eagle stands as the fourth rarest regular-issue United States coin. Only three regular-issue U.S. coins are unique: the 1870-S half dime, the 1873-CC No Arrows dime, and the 1870-S three-dollar gold piece. Next in line sits this extraordinary Philadelphia twenty-dollar gold piece.

Only two confirmed examples exist.

That fact alone would secure its fame. Yet the true story runs deeper. This coin captures a turning point in U.S. Mint history, a design battle inside the Philadelphia Mint, and the chaos of early 1861 as the nation moved toward Civil War.

It also forced collectors and scholars to ask a fundamental question: Is this a pattern, or a regular issue?

Today, the answer stands firmly on the side of history.

Why the 1861 Paquet Double Eagle Matters

The 1861 Paquet Double Eagle is not merely rare. It is essential.

Anyone assembling a complete set of Liberty Head double eagles must include it. Without it, the set remains unfinished.

Moreover, the coin represents the only Philadelphia Mint example of the Paquet reverse struck for circulation. While fewer than 100 examples survive of the 1861-S Paquet from San Francisco, only two Philadelphia pieces exist.

The difference in rarity is staggering.

One example grades MS67 PCGS with CAC approval. Heritage sold that coin in 2021 for $7,200,000. The other example, graded MS61 PCGS, sold at Heritage in 2014 for $1,645,000.

Both coins rank among the most important gold rarities in American numismatics.

The Backstory: A Design Change at the Edge of War

To understand the Paquet double eagle, we must return to 1860.

The Liberty Head double eagle debuted in 1850. James Barton Longacre designed it in 1849. The coin quickly became the workhorse of American gold commerce. From 1850 to 1933, the double eagle represented nearly 77% of the face value of all gold coins struck by the United States.

The denomination itself resulted from the Act of March 3, 1849, passed after California gold discoveries flooded the nation with bullion.

By 1860, however, Longacre’s reverse design had critics.

Assistant Engraver Anthony C. Paquet prepared a modified reverse. His letters appeared taller and more slender. The spacing widened. The rays tightened toward the legend. The rim narrowed.

The result looked modern and bold.

Late in 1860, the Mint adopted the Paquet reverse as the standard for 1861 coinage. Dies dated 1861 shipped to New Orleans and San Francisco. Philadelphia prepared examples for internal use. Production began in Philadelphia on January 5, 1861.

Then came trouble.

Mint officials worried that the reverse die’s slightly larger field and narrower rim would create striking problems. They feared improper stacking and collar instability.

Mint Director James Ross Snowden telegraphed branch mints to stop using the new reverse. New Orleans complied before striking any coins. San Francisco, however, continued production until early February 1861. The San Francisco Mint struck $385,000 face value before receiving the stop order.

Philadelphia halted coinage almost immediately.

Yet two pieces survived.

Pattern or Regular Issue?

For decades, numismatists debated the coin’s status.

Some believed the Philadelphia Paquet pieces represented special “numismatic delicacies.” Others argued they were patterns. However, major authorities rejected that view.

• Walter Breen considered them regular issues.
• David Akers agreed.
• Andrew Pollock III did not list them among patterns.
• Kenneth Bressett included them as regular Liberty double eagles.
• Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth confirmed their regular-issue status in 100 Greatest U.S. Coins.
• Q. David Bowers maintained they were regular issues, not experimental pieces.

The evidence supports that conclusion. The Mint prepared the Paquet reverse for standard production. It shipped dies to branch mints. Philadelphia began circulation strikes on regular presses. The coin qualifies as a regular-issue U.S. coin.

Today, the numismatic community recognizes the 1861 Paquet Double Eagle as a regular issue struck for general circulation.

Two Hubs, Two Stories

An unusual technical twist deepens the mystery.

The Philadelphia and San Francisco Paquet reverses differ in measurable ways. That fact defies normal Mint practice. In the 1860s, hubs typically transferred full designs consistently.

Yet Paquet apparently created two distinct hubs.

Pattern evidence confirms this conclusion. Judd-260 (Pollock-311) shows a copper pattern from the San Francisco-style hub. Judd-272a represents a unique gold 1860 pattern from the San Francisco hub and now resides in the Smithsonian Institution. Judd-273 (Pollock-322) shows a rare copper pattern from the Philadelphia hub.

Scholars Michael Hodder, John J. Ford Jr., and P. Scott Rubin analyzed these differences in detail. Their research suggests Paquet refined his design between hub versions. The Philadelphia hub appears to represent the final refinement, and the one that triggered Mint concerns.

Design Features: What Sets It Apart

The obverse remains identical to Longacre’s Liberty Head design.

Liberty faces left. She wears a coronet inscribed LIBERTY. Thirteen stars surround her. The date appears below. The truncation bears the incuse initials JBL.

The reverse reveals the transformation.

Compared with Longacre’s original:

• The lettering stands tall and slender.
• The shield shows two border lines instead of one.
• The shield contains 16 horizontal lines instead of 14.
• The scrolls separate from the eagle’s tail and wings.
• The constellation of stars sits lower.
• The rays increase to 72 (Philadelphia) and 73 (San Francisco).

The border appears narrower. Officials feared this would cause stacking problems. However, surviving specimens show no catastrophic striking defects.

Ironically, the feared flaw never materialized.

The Census: Only Two Confirmed Examples

The MS61 PCGS Specimen

• Weight: 33.44 grams
• Composition: 90% gold, 10% copper
• NGC ID: 269H
• PCGS: 8933

This coin likely traces back to the Col. Mendes I. Cohen Collection in 1875. It later appeared in the Cram sale of 1877. After vanishing into Europe, it resurfaced in Paris in 1965 through dealer Paul Wittlin.

The coin passed through Paramount, RARCOA, Abe Kosoff, and eventually the Dallas Bank Collection. Sotheby’s and Stack’s sold it in October 2001 for $345,000 during a market shaken by 9/11.

Heritage later offered it again. In 2014, it realized $1,645,000.

The obverse shows marks consistent with its MS61 grade. The reverse remains highly attractive, sharply detailed, and lustrous.

The MS67 PCGS CAC Specimen

This coin first appeared publicly in 1865 in a Woodward sale. It passed through legendary collections including Parmelee, Brand, Boyd, and King Farouk.

Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb later owned it. Bowers and Merena sold it in 1988 for $660,000.

Heritage sold the coin again in 2021 for $7,200,000.

Its preservation astonishes specialists. It shows full central detail, sharp stars, and exceptional luster. It ranks among the finest known Liberty Head double eagles of any date.

Anthony C. Paquet: The Man Behind the Name

Paquet was born December 5, 1814, in Hamburg, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1848. He joined the U.S. Mint in October 1857.

He prepared dies for the first Congressional Medal of Honor. He also engraved Indian Peace Medals for Presidents Johnson and Grant.

Some critics dismissed his talent. Donald Taxay described stiffness in portraiture. Yet Cornelius Vermeule defended him. Vermeule argued that Paquet never received a full opportunity to demonstrate his abilities on coinage.

The 1861 double eagle remains Paquet’s most famous work.

And it remains unforgettable.

A Coin Forged at a National Crossroads

The timing amplifies the drama.

January 1861. Southern states seceded. Federal mints in New Orleans and San Francisco stood at uncertain crossroads. Communications moved by telegraph and Pony Express.

In that fragile moment, the Paquet reverse entered production.

Then, abruptly, it stopped.

Two coins slipped into history.

One nearly vanished into European bullion channels. The other circulated quietly among 19th-century collectors who paid less than $50 for it.

Today, each ranks among the most valuable U.S. gold coins ever sold.

Why the 1861 Paquet Double Eagle Is a Cornerstone

The 1861 Paquet Double Eagle combines:

• Extreme rarity
• Design controversy
• Civil War timing
• Documented Mint correspondence
• Distinguished pedigrees
• Multi-million-dollar auction results

Few coins unite artistry, politics, and numismatic scholarship so completely.

Collectors chase great rarities for many reasons. Some pursue beauty. Others seek status. Still others chase history.

This coin offers all three.

It stands not merely as gold struck in 1861. It stands as a witness to a nation on the brink, and to a design decision that changed numismatic history.

Only two survive.

That fact alone commands attention.

But the story behind them ensures that the 1861 Paquet Double Eagle will always stand among the giants of American coinage.