Liberty Head double eagle

Liberty Head double eagle ($20)[1]
United States
Value20 United States dollars
Mass33.431 g
Diameter34.1 mm (1.342 in)
Edgereeded
Composition90% gold, 10% copper
Gold.96750 troy oz
Years of minting1849 (pattern only)
1850–1907 (regular issues)
Mint marksCC, D, O, S. Found immediately below the eagle on the reverse. Philadelphia Mint specimens lack mint mark.
Obverse
DesignHead of Liberty
DesignerJames B. Longacre
Design date1849
Design discontinued1907
Reverse
DesignHeraldic eagle. Type I
DesignerJames B. Longacre
Design date1849
Design discontinued1866
DesignType II, with "In God We Trust"
DesignerJames B. Longacre
Design date1866
Design discontinued1876
DesignType III, with "Dollars" spelled out
DesignerJames B. Longacre
Design date1877
Design discontinued1907

The Liberty Head double eagle or Coronet double eagle is an American twenty-dollar gold piece struck as a pattern coin in 1849, and for commerce from 1850 to 1907. It was designed by Mint of the United States Chief Engraver James B. Longacre.

The largest denomination of United States coin authorized by the Mint Act of 1792 was the eagle, or ten-dollar piece. The large amount of bullion being brought east after the discovery of gold in California in the 1840s caused Congress to consider new denominations of gold coinage. The gold dollar and double eagle were the result. After considerable infighting at the Philadelphia Mint, Chief Engraver James B. Longacre designed the double eagle, and it began to be issued for commerce in 1850. Only one 1849 double eagle is known to survive and it rests in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian.

The coin was immediately successful; merchants and banks used it in trade. It was struck until replaced by the Saint-Gaudens double eagle in 1907, and many were melted when President Franklin D. Roosevelt recalled gold coins from the public in 1933. Millions of double eagles were sent overseas in international transactions throughout its run to be melted or placed in bank vaults. Many of the latter have now been repatriated to feed the demand from collectors and those who desire to hold gold.

  1. ^ Yeoman, pp. 275–278.