Twenty Dollar Gold Coin: The First Love of Numismatists

As reported by Deidre Woollard, a renowned writer at Luxist.com, the first ever struck twenty dollar gold coin at the United States Mint will be available for public display in Chicago in August 2011 at the World’s Fair of Money. This coin is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

This beautiful coin was struck by the US Mint at its Philadelphia Mint in 1849 during the early days of the California Gold Rush. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) experts agree that this rare coin’s value has increased from an estimated $15 million in 2010 to $20 million in 2011.

Twenty Dollar Gold Coin: The Double Eagle

Twenty dollar gold pieces, also popularly known as Double Eagles, were the largest issues ever struck in the United States. Its size is around that of a half dollar coin and it weighs slightly less than one ounce of gold. In normal terms, its weight is more than the real $20 coin. These historical coins have exchanged many hands and usually show marks of regular wear and tear. For this reason, the coins often encountered by the public are worth only between $700 and $800. Unblemished and stain-free Twenty Dollar gold pieces are very rare and more expensive than their circulated counterparts.

Two Design Periods of the Twenty Dollar Gold Coin

If we divide these rare coins on the basis of their design types and period of mintage, there are two versions of them: first is the Liberty Coronet Head Coins and the second is the Saint-Gaudens Coins.

Liberty Head $20 Coin: Minted from 1849 to 1907, these coins were designed by James Longacre. In the mid 19th century, when the California Gold Rush made the United States a rich country almost overnight, the government decided to mint gold coins with higher denominations to simplify big transactions. Although many revolutionary changes had already taken place, many people in the US still distrusted paper money and relied on gold coins for trading purposes. At that time, the gold coin with the largest denomination prevalent was of $10 or the American Eagle. It was cumbersome to carry out huge transactions with such small denomination issues. Finally in February 1849, the US Congress passed the bill authorizing the mint to produce $20 gold coins.

The coin has an obverse featuring the bust of Lady Liberty wearing a coronet on her head and facing to the left. This is why these coins are also called ‘Coronet Head Coins’. The image is surrounded by 13 stars, representing the original 13 American colonies. The reverse of the coin portrays an eagle gripping on an olive branch. The statement ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ is inscribed above the image of the eagle and a Latin motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM" (‘Out of many, one’) is engraved on the beak of the eagle, providing it an atypical touch.

Saint-Gaudens $20 Coin: Minted from 1907 to 1933, these coins were named after its designer Saint Augustus Gaudens. It happened so that the then US President, Theodore Roosevelt, wanted to bring the Greek style of art to the US coinage. So, he asked Gaudens to redesign the Double Eagle.

This coin’s obverse depicts the standing figure of Lady Liberty holding a torch in one hand and an olive branch in another hand. The reverse features a flying eagle with wings spread wide, symbolizing fearlessness and bravery. On these coins, the mintmarks can be found right below the date.

Numismatists believe that today there are very few survivors left of the Liberty Double Eagle as compared to the Saint Gaudens Double Eagle, as most of the former were melted in the Gold Recall Order of 1933.