The largest ever regular issue United States coin was the twenty dollar coin and
came about following the discovery of massive gold reserves in 1848 California.
It was called the $20 “double eagle” because the $10 coin, first minted in 1795,
was known as the “eagle”.
The new finding brought thousands of “49ers” to the
region in search of riches and was a major event in the settlement of the
American West.
Legislation authorizing double eagle coins was passed on March 3, 1849. The bill
was originally written to begin making the gold dollar only, but was quickly
amended to include the twenty dollar coin when the immensity of the discovery
became clear.
The $20 double eagle was first designed by Mint Engraver James B. Longacre. The
obverse featured Liberty facing left, wearing a small crown called a coronet,
inscribed with the word LIBERTY. Longacre modeled Liberty from the ancient Roman
sculpture, Crouching Venus.
The reverse was patterned after the
Great Seal of the United States, which had
been an inspiration for U.S. coinage as far back as 1797. The face value
denomination was indicated as “TWENTY D.”.
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Coronet
Double Eagle
Specifications |
Diameter: |
Weight: |
Minted: |
Composition: |
Designer |
Edge: |
34.00 mm |
33.436 g |
1849-1907 |
.900
Au .100 Cu |
James B. Longacre |
Reeded |
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Coin Photos courtesy of
Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA. |
Numismatists have named the Longacre twenty dollar coin as the Coronet Double
Eagle. It is often referred to as the Liberty Head type.
Two twenty dollar coins dated 1849 were struck. One of them today
resides in the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. The whereabouts of the other 1849 $20
double eagle is not known. It was given to Treasury Secretary William M.
Meredith and was eventually lost after his estate was sold. The first of the
double eagle coins released for circulation came in 1850.
The $20 double eagle quickly became the preferred denomination for international
transactions and bank deposit holdings. Thus, larger quantities of double eagle
coins were minted than any other gold denomination.
Coronet Double Eagles are broken into three classifications. Class I was minted
from 1850 through 1866. Class II originated in 1866 when the addition of the
motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added above the eagle on the reverse. The motto was an
appeal to the Almighty for national guidance and healing during the difficult
Civil War era. In 1877, the reverse was modified by replacing the “D.”
abbreviation with the full word “DOLLARS”, resulting in Class III double eagles.
These were minted every year until 1907 when the Coronet twenty dollar coin
series was replaced by the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle.
More than 100 million Coronet Double Eagles were minted over a span of 58 years.
Many dates are rather common today in lesser grades and experience price
movements paralleling bullion market activity, and are popular for gold buyers
seeking a hedge against inflation with some built-in collectible value.
There are, naturally, Coronet Double Eagles of great scarcity worth far, far
above their bullion content. In 1861, Mint Engraver Anthony C. Paquet attempted
to improve the reverse design by making the legend lettering taller, and the rim
thinner. Unfortunately, these alterations caused premature die breakage, so the
Paquet reverse was withdrawn after a short time in service. Before word reached
San Francisco to stop the presses, a total 19,250 Paquet double eagles were
released to the public. Only two such examples were struck in Philadelphia,
making this one of the most famous classic rarities of American numismatics. A
Philadelphia Paquet double eagle graded MS-61 by PCGS was sold in February 2008
for $2.5 million.
Next comes a group that is unobtainable for almost everyone, commanding six
figure prices for examples showing even some wear: 1854-O, 1856-O,
1870-CC, 1883, 1884, and 1887.
Several Coronet twenty dollar coins typically bring at least $10,000 in VF-20
condition, and have stellar records of value appreciation, especially over the
last few years. These are:
These are certainly key dates of the Coronet Double Eagle series, but don't
expect them to continue the meteoric ascendancy they've been enjoying recently.
However, in the long haul, you can't hardly go wrong by owning one of these
fantastic coins.
Interestingly, several discoveries of long lost hoards of gold coins suddenly
added significantly to the then known supply of Coronet Double Eagles. Many of
the Mint State examples dated 1856 and older we have today were found in August
1934 by two Baltimore teenagers digging in the cellar of an abandoned house.
They unearthed nearly 3600 U.S. gold coins worth over $11,000 face value. The
following year, a judge declared the boys as the lawful owners of the cache,
whereupon they promptly auctioned the coins off for $22,500. The highest price
paid was $105 for an 1856-O.
From 1852 to 1857, the
S.S. Central America transported an estimated one-third
of the California Gold Rush yield to the east coast and elsewhere. On September
3, 1857, the ship departed Panama, bound for New York, with a cargo of nearly $2
million in gold coinage and up to $8 million more in gold ingots, including the
world's largest
assayed gold brick, weighing 80 lbs. The ship sank on September 12, after being
battered by a hurricane for four days. About 425 people went down with the
fabulous fortune in 8500 feet of water, about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras,
North Carolina. A total of 153 survivors were rescued. The loss contributed to
the failure of thousands of banks and
businesses during the economic collapse known as "The
Panic of 1857."
On September 11, 1987, the Columbus-America Discovery Group found the sunken
wreck. A decade of litigation ensued, ending with the courts awarding 92 percent
of the treasure to the Columbus group with the rest going to insurance
companies. Amongst the recovery was 5200 new 1857 double eagles from the
San Francisco Mint, one of which is pictured above.
In August 2003, the wreck of the
S.S. Republic was found in 1700 feet of water
about 100 miles of the coast of Georgia by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. The
ship was lost on October 25, 1865 to a hurricane, carrying $400,000 in mostly
$10 and $20 gold coins. Fewer than ten lives were lost in the sinking. The hard
currency was bound for New Orleans to assist in the early days of post-Civil War
Reconstruction. Thousands of coins were brought to the surface, many of them in
pristine condition, grading as high as MS-66.
If you are a higher end collector and want to add a key date Coronet twenty
dollar coin to your numismatic showcase, it is advisable that you consider only
double eagles that have been certified by one of the four leading grading
service companies: PCGS, NGC, ICG, or ANACS. Not surprisingly, there are
quite a few counterfeits around, often sold under the banner of lesser known
grading services. Smart buyers have greater confidence in coins graded by
any of the Big Four, and will bid accordingly. The opposite is true for
just about any other grading service.
The links below initiate a search of eBay coin auctions for the indicated
key date Coronet Double Eagle. The left hand side of each "Sales Box"
reports value trends over a very long period of time for the key date in VF-20
condition. The percent annual increase since 1950 is computed for
comparative purposes. The "View All" link on the right side of the
Sales Box is coded to isolate examples for sale on eBay of the indicated date.
Most likely, you won't find any examples on the auction block, attesting to the
scarcity of the key date Coronet Double Eagles. Also, the coin pictured
for sale in the right hand side, if any, is not necessarily the same condition
coin as that represented in the value trend analysis on left hand side.
