1859-o-liberty-seated-half-dollar-from-the-s-s-i-republic-i
Lot 2297
1859-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar from the S.S. Republic
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
NGC "Shipwreck Effect" with special label, the coin cleaned with AU details, presented in an Odyssey Marine custom box with COA.

Coins had all but disappeared from circulation during the Civil War and this shortage of hard cash was especially acute in the South. As Reconstruction dawned, the SS Republic was dispatched from New York to New Orleans with over $400,000 in gold and silver coin intended to stimulate Dixie's devastated economy. A hurricane off the Georgia coast, however, claimed the ship and its treasure on October 25, 1865. Fortunately, most of the passengers and crew survived. Salvage efforts in modern times have recovered lost coins such as this antebellum New Orleans Mint half dollar.

$200 - 300