1861-O

New Orleans struck 17,741 double eagles in 1861 across three separate governmental authorities — the only U.S. coin to carry that distinction. The federal U.S. Mint produced approximately 5,000 from January 1 through Louisiana's secession on January 26. The State of Louisiana struck 9,750 between January 31 and March 31 after seizing the mint. The Confederate States of America added 2,991 in April before bullion supplies ran out and the facility closed permanently on April 30. Every coin in the run came from the same federal die pair and no replacement dies were made so individual examples cannot be attributed to a specific issuing authority. Each one reads UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the reverse regardless of who ordered the strike, an irony inseparable from the coin's historical weight.

The 1861-O is also the worst-struck date in the New Orleans double eagle series. Roughly three-quarters of known examples show pronounced weakness at the base of the date numerals, a mint-caused defect, not wear. Doug Winter and Joe Gaines identified three die states: an early state with sharp date and no cracks, likely federal-era; an intermediate state with weakened lower digits; and a late state combining hand-engraved date numerals with an obverse die crack running from the rim near star 2 toward Liberty's chin. The late state appears on roughly twenty percent of survivors, which closely matches the seventeen percent attributable to the Confederate run by mintage share — a statistical alignment, not a certainty. After April 1861 the New Orleans Mint struck no further double eagles for eighteen years, until the 1879-O, leaving the two dates to bookend the entire antebellum-to-postbellum gap.

Approximately 150 to 175 examples survive across all grades, concentrated in VF and EF. About Uncirculated coins are scarce, and Mint State examples are genuine events: PCGS has graded a single MS60, NGC reports four MS60s and two MS61s, and a lone NGC MS62PL is documented but has not been examined publicly. CAC has approved eighteen pieces across all grades. Pricing reflects that census, strong four figures in Fine, $35,000 to $45,000 in VF, $55,000 to $90,000 in About Uncirculated, and well into six figures in Mint State. A PCGS AU55+ CAC example from the Fairmont JBR holdings realized $96,000 at Stack's Bowers in August 2022, and Heritage's January 2014 NGC MS60 sale brought $146,875. Authentication by PCGS or NGC is mandatory at any of those levels, with CAC approval an important secondary check given documented gradeflation across the date. For full context on the New Orleans Mint's wartime role, see the Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.