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$20 Liberty Head Gold Double Eagle |
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The Liberty Head Double Eagle - A brief historyThe twenty-dollar Liberty Head gold double eagle (or simply $20 Liberty) was first minted for circulation in 1850 (one $20 Liberty was minted in 1849, it resides in the Smithsonian). A total of 1,311,261 gold Libertys were produced that first year - 141,000 in New Orleans (quite valuable if in good condition) and the remainder in Philadelphia.Designed by James Longacre, the $20 Liberty double eagle was one of the few U.S. coins produced by five different U.S. Mints (the Morgan silver dollar was another) over its "mint life": Philadelphia; Carson City; Denver; New Orleans; and San Francisco. Over the 57 years in which the $20 Liberty was minted, a few noteworthy changes were made to this gold coin... "TWENTY DOLLARS" LibertysIn the beginning (from 1850 until 1876), $20 Libertys were produced with "TWENTY D." appearing on the reverse side (at the bottom, beneath the eagle). Beginning in 1877, the $20 Libertys (and all Saint Gaudens double eagles) were minted with "TWENTY DOLLARS" in place of "TWENTY D.". Approximately 39,700,400 Motto and No Motto "TWENTY D." $20 Libertys were minted."No Motto" LibertysFrom 1850 until 1866, $20 Libertys were produced without the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST". These are referred to as "no motto" Libertys. Approximately 23,539,300 "no motto" $20 Libertys were produced by the Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco mints."IN GOD WE TRUST" Motto LibertysBeginning in 1866, the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" was added to the reverse of the $20 Libertys. The motto was added above the eagle (click on the image below for a larger view) and continued until 1907, the last year the $20 Liberty was minted.Liberty Head Double Eagle - Facts and DetailsThe $20 Liberty features the head of Lady Liberty with coronet
on the obverse side. The reverse features the image of
a spread-winged eagle. The mint mark is on the
reverse below the eagle. Mint marks are "CC" for
Carson City, "D"
for Denver, "O"
for New Orleans and "S"
for
the San Francisco Mint. If
no mint mark appears, it was minted by the Philadelphia
Mint. The Liberty Head design was used on the $20 double eagles, $10 eagles, $5 half-eagles and $2.50 quarter-eagles. More details on the $20 Liberty ... $20 Liberty Head Gold Double EagleGold content= .9675 Troy ounces, Face value=$20.00, Gold purity = .9000, Gross Weight=1.0750 Troy ounces (33.436 grams), Net weight=.9675 Troy ounces (30.0925 grams)These are wonderful coins. If you are at all interested in owning historic gold coins, the $20 Liberty Head gold double eagle should be high on your list. Make sure to compare prices from several dealers. The $20 Liberty is very popular and you can expect to pay a pretty good premium over spot gold. By shopping around, your savings per coin can be significant. |
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