1847-O

The 1847-O is the seventh New Orleans eagle and the date that fundamentally changed the availability picture for the early branch. Mintage of 571,500 pieces represents a roughly seven-fold leap over the 81,780 struck the prior year and stands as the largest New Orleans eagle production to that point in the series, a delivery built on rising Mississippi commerce and the stockpiled bullion that would soon be supplemented by Sutter's Mill discoveries. Inside the No Motto NO availability hierarchy, the 1847-O sits at the top alongside the 1851-O. Doug Winter notes the two issues together account for roughly 34 percent of all CAC-approved No Motto New Orleans eagles, making the 1847-O one of the few early-NO dates a circulated-grade collector can realistically chase without a multi-year search.

What collectors actually encounter is a coin showing the heavy circulation of an issue that worked the cotton-and-shipping economy hard, with most survivors grading EF45 or below and the typical example carrying honest wear, characteristic strike softness over Liberty's hair curls, and the green-gold color of native Louisiana alloy. Two die varieties are catalogued, Variety 1 with a normal date and high mintmark above the EN of TEN, and Variety 2 with a repunched 18 in the date that develops extensive die cracks joining the stars in late states. Authentication centers on the standard 16.718-gram weight at 27 mm with specific gravity near 17.2, and on mintmark seating: the O sits high in the field above the denomination, and added-mintmark fakes built on Philadelphia 1847 hosts have been seen, so the punch depth and field-relief transition demand magnification. Mint State survivors number perhaps twenty-five to thirty across both services, with the 1847-O actually the most plentiful NO eagle of the type in MS63-MS64, four to six known at that level, and no Gems accounted for.

For collectors building a No Motto New Orleans eagle set, the 1847-O is the entry point: VF and EF examples trade in the $1,700-$2,100 range, and choice AU coins remain attainable in the low four figures. The Fairmont Hoard contributed hundreds of examples to the certified population in recent years, and Doug Winter has observed that prices have nonetheless held firm for original AU pieces. A PCGS MS64 from the Bass Collection (originally New England Collection) remains the benchmark high-grade specimen. Buy for original surfaces and avoid coins that have been lightened or processed; the right AU is well worth the patience. For broader context on the issuing run, see the Liberty Head Eagle series history.