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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Kirkuleez, post: 1502712, member: 36864&quot;]Branch mint proofs made before the 1950s are exceedingly rare by any measurement.&nbsp; Today I will focus on my favorite New Orleans mint proofs.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=CONFIG]192910[/ATTACH]</p><p>The 1856-O Type 1 PCGS SP-63 double eagle is considered to be the single most important coin ever minted at the New Orleans mint and has exploded in popularity.&nbsp; The price of this coin is reflective of its popularity.&nbsp; When it sold in 2002, it was a bargain at only $310,000 compared to what it realized recently when it sold for $1.4 Million.&nbsp; This price makes it the most valuable proof double eagle and the newest member of the million dollar club.</p><p><br /></p><p>As beautiful and expensive as the double eagle is, it is by far not the most expensive New Orleans proof.&nbsp; The 1844-O NGC PR-65 UCAM Liberty Eagle takes that prize.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]192919.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This piece is perhaps the most beautiful gold proof to come out of the New Orleans mint and its price tag of $2.5 Million reflects that.&nbsp; It first hit the auction block in June 1890 and has a remarkable pedigree.&nbsp; Some of the most prominent names in numismatics have held this unique proof in their collection.&nbsp; Some of the names include former US&nbsp; Treasury Secretary William H. Woodin, Virgil Brand. Abe Kosoff,&nbsp; John J. Ford, John Murrell and Robert Lecce.&nbsp; Today it is in the hands of a private Florida collector.</p><p><br /></p><p>Recently, my friend Paul Hollis arranged to return this coin to the New Orleans mint for the reopening of the mint following Hurricane Katrina.&nbsp; The mint, which is now a museum, displayed it for several months.&nbsp; With a coin like that so close to home, I visited it on more than one occasion.</p><p><br /></p><p>The New Orleans mint also produced silver proofs.&nbsp; Perhaps the most popular of these silver proofs is the 1879-O Class 1 Morgan dollar.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]192926.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This beautiful Morgan dollar is one of only four known to exist of the original mintage of twelve pieces.&nbsp; This coin was produced to mark the reopening of the New Orleans mint following its closing in 1861 because of the onset of the Civil war.&nbsp; Unbelievably, famous Morgan collector Jack Lee, who was a member of our local coin club and a person friend of mine owned two of the four known pieces.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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