1861-S LIBERTY HEAD $20, PAQUET AU50

PAQUET REVERSE. VERY ATTRACTIVE, EVENLY WORN SURFACES. ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES OF THE LIBERTY DOUBLE EAGLE SET. Assistant Engraver of the United States Mint Anthony C. Paquet prepared a new reverse design for the Double Eagle in 1860. While superficially similar to the design already in use, Paquet's work is distinguishable by his use of tall letters in the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination TWENTY D., as well as a very narrow border. This final feature was soon recognized as a problem because Mint personnel feared that the coins would not hold up well in circulation. The Philadelphia Mint quickly switched back to the original reverse design after an unknown, albeit probably extremely limited number of Paquet Reverse examples had been struck. Today, only two P-mint Double Eagles with the Paquet design are known. Federal authorities on the East coast also sent a telegraph to the San Francisco Mint, where a Paquet Reverse die had already been shipped. By the time word reached California to return to the old-style reverse, the San Francisco Mint had already distributed $385,000 worth of Double Eagles using the Paquet design. Long overlooked by numismatists, the 1861-S Paquet Reverse Double Eagle was rediscovered in the 1930s. The issue has since been mistakenly classified as a pattern on occasion, although most numismatic scholars are now in agreement that it is a regular issue. The 1861-S Double Eagle with the Paquet Reverse is a rare coin in all grades that ranks as the most elusive Type I Twenty struck in the San Francisco Mint. Most of the 90-100 coins believed extant grade no finer than EF, and AU coins are comfortably in the Condition Census. The issue is unknown in Mint State. The Paquet Reverse Double Eagle has been honored with the # 33 ranking in the 2005 book " 100 Greatest U.S. Coins " by Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth.