The History of the Gold Double Eagle Coin

The History of the Gold Double Eagle Coin

Once thought to be far more money than anyone was likely to possess at one time, the $20 Double Eagle gold coin became one of the most popular coins of all time. Pre-1933 specimens remains highly collectible despite the introduction of a new Double Eagle gold coin series.

Until 1848, the US Mint in Philadelphia had been striking rather small denominations of gold coins with the image of “lady liberty” since 1796 that included a quarter eagle, half Eagle and full Eagle. The face value of an Eagle coin was set at $10 four years earlier by government decree when the US Mint was given legal authority to create currency.

Those initial Gold Eagle coins that date back to the 18th century include alloys of different purities, though the percentage has been set at 90% since 1834. By the time of the California Gold Rush in 1849, the first $20, Double Eagle coins were struck. In fact, it was precisely because of the gold rush that $20 coins were even a necessary item, with production ramping up in 1850 to create a coinage that would be used throughout the country.

Though the actual number of people who did get rich from that original Sutter's Mill strike was extremely small, their contribution to the gold stocks of the still young United States was significant and something had to be done with all that gold. The Liberty Head design on the obverse (sometimes called the Coronet design) that was used until 1907, was designed by James Longacre. There were three subtypes of this coin issued:

1. The original design, also called the “common type, ” 1850-1866 2. The “In God We Trust” motto added on the reverse, 1866-1876 3. The “Twenty D. ” on the reverse spelled out as “Twenty Dollars, ” 1877-1907

The St. Gaudens Double Eagle replaced the Liberty Head type in 1907 and has been the gold coin of preference for collectors for many years, due to its artistic quality. In fact, Augustus St. Gaudens is considered to be one of the leading American sculptors of all time.

The coins were originally minted in what is called “high relief” to capture all the nuance of his work, though the mints had difficulty getting a good strike on the first, second or even sixth strike. The high-relief St. Gaudens Double Eagles were also impossible for banks to stack, leading to their being redesigned early on. The high-relief coins are highly prized by numismatic collectors and fetch prices many times higher than their “low-relief” counterparts.

These gold double eagle coins would be produced until the Federal Government decided to recall all gold from private individuals and businesses in 1933. The famous 1933 Gold Double Eagle coin is noted for having fetched the highest value at auction of any US coin in history, netting over 7.5 million dollars for what is the only 1933 Double Eagle that is legal to sell.

It was not until 1986 that the gold Double Eagle coin would be produced. Again. These gold Double Eagles are 90% pure gold with 10% copper. At this time, silver and platinum versions of these Double Eagle coins were also introduced, with the latter appearing in 1997. Unlike their predecessors from the past, the modern, one ounce Double Eagle gold coins have a face value of $50. The $100 platinum American Eagle coin differs by being 99.95% pure.