“The Ship of Gold”

The wreck of the S.S. Central America offers coins from a variety of dates, denominations, metals, and countries. Not only did the cargo of the ship sink, the contents of the passengers were also lost. Among the recovered coins, we see items from the Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, and San Francisco Mints; various Territorial and Assay coins from the U.S. Assay Office of Gold, Moffat & Co., Kellogg & Co., and Wass, Molitor & Co.; California fractional gold; counterstamped coins from W.W. Light, J.L. Polhemus, and H.H. Pierson, among others; and foreign coins from Sardinia, Colombia, Costa Rice, France, Great Britain, Nueva Grande, Sweden, Mexico, and others. The amount of treasure coins on board the ship was vast, and as a result, it has given collectors of every background something to collection. Below, we feature some of the coins that were recovered and have since sold through Stack’s Bowers Galleries auctions. To view a full listing of S.S. Central America coins that we have sold, we invite you to search through our Auction Archives.

United States Gold Double Eagles

Sold For $5,280
1851 Liberty Double Eagle
With One Pinch of CA Gold Dust
AU-58 (PCGS).

1851 Liberty Double Eagle

Sold For $6,325
1851-O Liberty Double Eagle
With the Original Marketing Box
EF-45 (PCGS).

1851-O Liberty Double Eagle

Sold For $9,200
1852-O Liberty Double Eagle
With the Original Marketing Box
AU-53 (PCGS).

1852-O Liberty Double Eagle

Sold For $28,200
1854 Liberty Double Eagle
Breen-7168, Large Date
AU-58 (PCGS). CAC.

1854 Liberty Head Double Eagle

Sold For $25,850
1854-S Liberty Double Eagle
Variety-11A, Broken A
AU-55 (PCGS). CAC.

1854-S Liberty Head Double Eagle

Sold For $20,400
1855 Liberty Head Double Eagle
With One Pinch of CA Gold Dust
MS-62 (PCGS). CAC.

1855 Liberty Head Double Eagle

Sold For $44,062
1855-S Liberty Head Double Eagle
14E, Bold S
MS-64 (PCGS). CAC.

1855-S Liberty Head Double Eagle

Sold For $37,375
1856-S Liberty Head Double Eagle
17O, No Serif, Left S
MS-65 (PCGS). CAC.

1856-S Liberty Head Double Eagle

Sold For $96,000
1857-S Liberty Head Double Eagle
Bold S
MS-67 (PCGS). CAC.

1857-S Liberty Head Double Eagle

United States Gold Eagles

Sold For $6,462
1847 Liberty Eagle
S.S. Central America Gold Label
AU-53 (PCGS). CAC.

1847 Liberty Eagle

Sold For $10,350
1854-S Liberty Eagle
S.S. Central America Gold Label
AU-55 (PCGS).

1854-S Liberty Eagle

Sold For $5,002
1856-S Liberty Eagle
S.S. Central America Gold Label
AU-55 (PCGS).

1856-S Liberty Eagle

Sold For $18,000
1857-S Liberty Eagle
S.S. Central America Gold Label
MS-62 (PCGS).

1857-S Liberty Eagle

United States Gold Half Eagles

Sold For $1,680
1839 Liberty Half Eagle
With One Pinch of CA Gold Dust
F-15 (PCGS).

1839 Liberty Head Half Eagle

Sold For $9,300
1851-D Liberty Half Eagle
With One Pinch of CA Gold Dust
AU-55 (PCGS). CAC.

1851-D Liberty Head Half Eagle

Sold For $6,462
1854 Liberty Half Eagle
S.S. Central America Gold Label
AU-50 (PCGS).

1854 Liberty Head Half Eagle

Sold For $6,462
1855-C Liberty Half Eagle
S.S. Central America Gold Label
AU-55 (PCGS).

1855-C Liberty Half Eagle

Sold For $3,910
1856-S Liberty Half Eagle
S.S. Central America Treasure Coin
AU-55 (PCGS).

1856-S Liberty Head Half Eagle

Sold For $6,462
1857-S Liberty Half Eagle
S.S. Central America Treasure Coin
AU-58 (PCGS).

1857-S Liberty Head Half Eagle

United States Gold Quarter Eagles

Sold For $1,560
1853 Liberty Quarter Eagle
With One Pinch of CA Gold Dust
VF-30 (PCGS).

1853 Liberty Quarter Eagle

Sold For $2,640
1854-O Liberty Quarter Eagle
Winter-2
AU-58 (PCGS). CAC.

1854-O Liberty Quarter Eagle

United States Territorial Gold

Sold For $43,125
1851 Augustus Humbert $50
Reeded Edge, 887 THOUS.
EF-40 (PCGS).

1851 Augustus Humbert $50

Sold For $33,350
1852 Augustus Humbert $10
S.S. Central America Gold Label
MS-62 (PCGS).

1852 Augustus Humbert $10

Sold For $72,000
1852 Augustus Humbert $50
Reeded Edge, K-11, 887 THOUS.
EF-40 (PCGS). CAC.

1852 Augustus Humbert $50

Sold For $4,320
1856 California Fractional Gold
Liberty Head 25¢, BG-111
MS-66 (PCGS).

1856 Liberty Head 25¢

Sold For $19,200
1855 Kellogg & Co. $20
K-3, Long Arrows
AU-53 (PCGS).

1855 Kellogg & Co. $20

Sold For $10,500
1852 U.S. Assay Office of Gold $10
K-12a(2), 884 THOUS.
AU-53 (PCGS). CAC.

1852 U.S. Assay Office of Gold $10

Sold For $10,925
1853 U.S. Assay Office of Gold $10
K-16, 900 THOUS.
EF-45 (PCGS). CAC.

1853 U.S. Assay Office of Gold $10

Sold For $8,970
1852 Wass, Molitor & Co. $10
K-4, Large Head, Wide Date
EF-40 (PCGS).

1852 Wass, Molitor & Co. $10

Sold For $23,500
1855 Wass, Molitor & Co. $10
K-6
AU-53 (PCGS).

1855 Wass, Molitor & Co. $10

United States Silver Coins

Sold For $1,265
1842 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1842 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $437
1843 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1843 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $11,500
1847-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1847-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $1,035
1848 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1848 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $575
1849-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1849-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $2,990
1853 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1853 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $575
1854 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1854 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $1,320
1857-S Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1857-S Liberty Seated Half Dollar

Sold For $483
1847 Liberty Seated Quarter

1847 Liberty Seated Quarter

Sold For $920
1853 Liberty Seated Quarter

1853 Liberty Seated Quarter

Sold For $747
1854 Liberty Seated Quarter

1854 Liberty Seated Quarter

Sold For $920
1856-S Liberty Seated Quarter

1856-S Liberty Seated Quarter

Sold For $460
1842 Liberty Seated Dime

1842 Liberty Seated Dime

Sold For $575
1853 Liberty Seated Dime

1853 Liberty Seated Dime