Collecting New Orleans Eagles. In my admittedly biased opinion, I find the eagles produced at the New Orleans mint to be among the most interesting and collectible gold issues from the 19th century.
Eagles were first made at the New Orleans mint in 1841—three years after this facility opened in 1838. These coins are part of the No Motto type which continued through 1866. However, no eagles of this design type were made after 1860, as the mint closed in 1861 due to the beginning of the Civil War. The mint reopened in 1879 and eagle coinage resumed through 1883. After a pause, it began again in 1888 and continued—with interruptions—until 1906 when it was discontinued. The coins dated 1879 through 1906 are part of the With Motto type.
If you only collect Choice to Gem coins, the No Motto issues will not be appealing. Most of the 21 dates are very rare in Uncirculated, and virtually every issue is either unknown or exceedingly rare in MS63 or finer.
The 11 late-date (1888 through 1906) eagles from New Orleans are all available in MS62 to MS63, and a few are collectible in MS64 and even MS65 grades.
Here are a number of suggested collecting strategies for New Orleans eagles:
One and Done
While not appealing to me given my long-time love of this series, some collectors will only buy a single New Orleans eagle.
If I were going to buy just one coin, I’d likely choose either a higher grade, scarcer, No Motto issue or a choice With Motto piece.
Say your budget is $5,000. This will buy you a nice AU53 to AU55 example of a date such as the 1843-O, 1844-O, or 1845-O, or a date from the 1850s such as an 1850-O, 1853-O, or 1858-O. You could go in the opposite direction and purchase an MS63 With Motto 1901-O, 1903-O, or 1904-O.
If your budget is $10,000, you can likely acquire an AU58 example of one of these dates. Or, you could buy an AU55 better date such as an 1846-O, 1849-O, 1852-O, 1855-O, or 1856-O. In the With Motto category, you could focus on a choice MS64 example of any of the three 20th century dates I mentioned above.
Two Types
Collecting New Orleans Eagles. This method is pretty straightforward as it consists of purchasing one example of each of the two design types.
The comments I made above on the No Motto and With Motto types are applicable to this collecting methodology.
Collecting by Decade
Eagles were produced in New Orleans during seven different decades. These are as follows: 1840s, 1850s, 1860s (only one year, 1860), 1870s (also only one year, 1879), 1880s, 1890s, and 1900s.
The two most challenging issues are the one-offs from 1860 and 1879.
The 1860-O is the easier of the two to locate, although it is very rare in any Uncirculated grade. A nice AU55 coin should be available at less than $10,000.
There were just 1,500 eagles dated 1879-O, and this is among the single most difficult eagles from this mint. You can expect to spend around $50,000 for a decent example.
Collecting by Date
There are 21 coins in a complete date set of No Motto eagles, and another 16 With Motto issues for a total of 37 coins. This includes the 1854-O Small Date and Large Date, but not the 1846/’5’-O.
The key issues are the 1841-O, 1859-O, 1879-O, and the 1883-O. You’ll likely have to spend at least $300,000 on these four but—in my opinion—this is a good place to sink a bunch of cash into.
Some pro buying tips; as follows:
- Whenever possible, purchase coins with natural color and choice surfaces. These are generally worth a 10-50% premium, especially on any of the Big Four cited above.
- Populations at PCGS are significantly inflated by resubmissions and include many very low-end coins. CAC populations are more indicative of the rarity for scarcer dates in higher grades.
- New Orleans eagles with Fairmont hoard pedigrees tend to be much nicer than what is typically available for most dates.
- When assembling a complete set, don’t overbuy the common dates and underbuy the scarce and rare dates.
Assembling a Complete Year Set
The New Orleans mint produced six different denominations. Wouldn’t it be cool to assemble a complete set with all dated the same year?
To answer my own question, yes it would be a cool set. The problem is that the only year in which the three dollar was made at this mint was in 1854. The 1854-O double eagle represents a huge stumbling block for completing this set, as it is an extreme rarity worth upwards of $500,000.
There are compromise solutions which may work for some collectors. In 1851, New Orleans made examples of five different denominations (gold dollar, quarter eagle, half eagle, eagle, and double eagle). Luckily, all five are reasonably available and nice AU55 to AU58 coins are within reach of collectors with a budget of up to $10k per.
“It’s My Party, and I Can Buy What I Want To…”
I get it. You’re a maverick and you do not do what you’re told ‘cause you know thangs. The last person you are going to listen to is a coin dealer.
That said, you still want a big ‘ol Nawlins iggle.
What should you buy?
Obviously, it depends on your budget.
If you’ve got around $5k, I’d suggest you buy a nice AU55 1851-O which is PCGS/CAC and has original color and surfaces.
Suggestions for a $10k coin include a high-end AU58 No Motto issue would include said 1851-O, or a somewhat lower grade, better date, such as an 1849-O, 1852-O, 1855-O, 1856-O, or 1857-O.
At $25k, you can buy some truly Big Boy coins like an MS61 1858-O or an 1860-O.
And at $50k+, the sky’s the limit. Personally, I’d search for a sweet 1841-O, or even the key 1859-O in AU53 to AU55.
Would you like to buy a significant New Orleans eagle or work on a set? Call Doug at
(916) 655-7787 or message him at
andrew@jfandozzirarecoins.com to discuss the many possibilities.
Collecting New Orleans Eagles