Written by the Maison Or & Bijoux Le Havre team · updated
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Metal | Gold, 900‰ fine, alloyed with 10% copper |
| Weight | 33.43 g |
| Fine gold | 30.09 g (0.9675 troy oz) |
| Diameter | 34 mm (34.1 mm according to Wikipedia) |
| Years struck | 1850-1907 (Liberty, single pattern in 1849); 1907-1933 (Saint-Gaudens) |
| Mints | Philadelphia (no mark), New Orleans (O), San Francisco (S), Carson City (CC), Denver (D, from 1906) |
| Edge | Reeded (Liberty); lettered “E PLURIBUS UNUM” (Saint-Gaudens) |
| References | Date-and-mint listings of the American catalogues (Red Book, PCGS numbers) |
At 34 mm and more than 33 g, the $20 coin, nicknamed the “double eagle”, is the heaviest gold coin ever put into circulation in the United States. It has two faces: a woman's head wearing a coronet until 1907, then a standing Liberty holding up a torch until 1933. Millions crossed the Atlantic to settle trade with Europe, which is why they turn up in French estates.
Liberty type (1850-1907): Liberty in left profile, hair in a tight bun, coronet bearing the word “LIBERTY”, thirteen stars around and the date beneath the neck, where the initials “JBL” can be read. Saint-Gaudens type (1907-1933): Liberty seen from the front, walking, holding a torch and an olive branch, with the Capitol at her feet and rays behind her; 46 stars around the rim, 48 from 1912.
Liberty type: eagle with spread wings carrying a shield, “E PLURIBUS UNUM” scroll, denomination “TWENTY D.” then “TWENTY DOLLARS” from 1877, motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” added in 1866. Saint-Gaudens type: eagle flying above a rising sun, “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “TWENTY DOLLARS”, with the motto only from 1908.
Two details give a $20 coin its identity: the date and the mint mark. On the Liberty it sits on the reverse, below the eagle; on the Saint-Gaudens, on the obverse, above the date. With no letter, the coin comes from Philadelphia. The small New Orleans and Carson City issues, then the Saint-Gaudens of 1927 to 1933, largely melted, are the ones that draw attention.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1849 | Philadelphia | pattern | One known example, held by the Smithsonian. |
| 1850 | Philadelphia | just over 1,000,000 | Start of regular striking. |
| 1850 | O | 141,000 | The series opens at New Orleans. |
| 1854 | O | 3,250 | One of the two New Orleans keys. |
| 1856 | O | 2,250 | The other key from this mint, of comparable rarity. |
| 1857 | S | unknown | Many examples recovered from the wreck of the SS Central America. |
| 1861 | S | about 19,250 | Anthony Paquet's reverse, withdrawn because the rim was too low. |
| 1866-1876 | various | unknown | Type II: motto added, “TWENTY D.”. |
| 1870 | CC | 3,789 | Smallest Carson City mintage. |
| 1877-1907 | various | unknown | Type III: “TWENTY DOLLARS” spelled out. |
| 1883 | Philadelphia | 92 | Proof only. |
| 1886 | Philadelphia | about 1,000 | Very low circulation mintage (plus 106 proofs). |
| 1904 | Philadelphia | 6,256,699 | Most-produced Liberty: very common. |
| 1907 | Philadelphia | about 12,367 | High relief, date MCMVII. |
| 1907 | Philadelphia | 361,667 | Lowered relief, Arabic numerals, no motto. |
| 1908 | Philadelphia | 4,271,551 | Still without “IN GOD WE TRUST”. |
| 1908 | Philadelphia | 156,258 | First version with the motto. |
| 1924 | Philadelphia | 4,323,500 | Found in quantity in European vaults. |
| 1927 | D | 180,000 | Almost all melted. |
| 1928 | Philadelphia | 8,816,000 | Largest Saint-Gaudens mintage. |
| 1929 | Philadelphia | 1,779,750 | Fewer than 2,000 estimated survivors. |
| 1930 | S | 74,000 | Melted almost in full. |
| 1931 | D | 106,500 | Low mintage, few survivors. |
| 1933 | Philadelphia | 445,500 | Never issued; a single example is legal in private hands. |
Mintages from the Wikipedia articles on both types, checked against PCGS CoinFacts and Heritage and Stack's Bowers lot notes for 1854-O, 1856-O and 1870-CC. The 1907 high relief is given as 11,250 or about 12,367 depending on the source. A selection of dates, not a complete list.
The first sort is made on the obverse. A profile head with a coronet: it is a Liberty, struck from 1850 to 1907. A full-length woman walking towards you: it is a Saint-Gaudens, from 1907 to 1933. The edge confirms it: reeding for the first, raised lettering for the second.
The Liberty then divides according to the reverse. With no motto above the eagle and “TWENTY D.”, it is Type I (1850-1866). With “IN GOD WE TRUST” but still “TWENTY D.”, Type II (1866-1876). With “TWENTY DOLLARS” written in full, Type III (1877-1907), by far the most frequent.
For the Saint-Gaudens, look at the date and the reverse. A date in Roman numerals, MCMVII, marks the 1907 high relief, with very deep modelling. An Arabic date with no motto on the reverse points to the strikings of late 1907 and early 1908. After that the motto is always there, and the two extra stars of 1912 mark New Mexico and Arizona joining the Union.
The $20 coin was born of the gold rush: the Act of 3 March 1849 created both the gold dollar and this large coin, double the $10 eagle. The mints of San Francisco, New Orleans and Carson City, close to the mines, joined Philadelphia.
From the 1880s the coin became an instrument of international payment. Millions left for Europe in cloth bags of 250 coins. Many were melted there: those sent to the United Kingdom often ended up turned into sovereigns. Some, however, lay dormant in bank strongrooms.
In 1933 Franklin Roosevelt suspended gold payments on 6 March, then on 28 December Americans were ordered to hand in their coins to the Treasury. Those still in the United States were melted by the million. The coins kept in Europe escaped the furnace and came back onto the market from the 1940s. That is why the 1924 Philadelphia coin, long thought difficult, is today one of the commonest. See also gold coins.
The $20 coin has been counterfeited on a large scale, above all in the 1960s and 1970s to satisfy demand for gold in the Middle East. These pieces are often gold, sometimes at the exact weight, so the scales do not settle the matter. The clues lie elsewhere: puffy, indistinct relief, mushy engraver's initials and date figures, small bubbles or pits in the field, too bright a lustre, a metal colour that does not match. On a rare date, an added or erased mint mark is a classic trap. The guide recognising a fake coin sets out these checks.
Other coins cause confusion without being fakes. The $10 gold eagle weighs half as much and measures about 27 mm. The American Gold Eagle struck since 1986 reuses Saint-Gaudens' Liberty, but with a family of eagles on the reverse and a one-ounce marking: it is covered on the modern gold and silver ounces page. The 2009 ultra high relief $20, dated MMIX, is a collector issue in pure gold. Then there are gilded souvenir copies, far too light.
On a Liberty, wear starts with the hair above the forehead and the ear, then reaches the coronet, whose “LIBERTY” letters fade from the top. On the reverse, the eagle's head, neck and wing tips lose their feathers first.
On a Saint-Gaudens, check Liberty's breast and left knee, her face, then the torch. The tiny Capitol blurs at the first rubbing. On the reverse, look at the feathers of the eagle's wing and body.
Most coins found in Europe saw little circulation, but they travelled and slept in bags of 250. They therefore carry contact marks: small nicks in the field, knocks on the rim. For a collector these marks weigh as much as wear. Never try to soften them: the guide cleaning a coin explains why, and the guide coin grades presents the scale used.
The $20 coin was never struck in Rouen nor used as legal tender in France. Yet Le Havre was France's great gateway to New York: the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique opened its line there on 15 June 1864 with the Washington and kept it running until 1974. Without being able to say through which port each coin arrived, double eagles are found today in estates across Normandy, mostly 1920s Saint-Gaudens and early twentieth-century Liberty coins.
By size and weight: 34 mm and more than 33 g for the $20, about 27 mm and half the weight for the $10. The reverse also states the denomination.
It is 1907 in Roman numerals. It only appears on the 1907 high relief, struck in just over 12,000 examples; later coins are dated in Arabic numerals.
Because millions were sent to Europe to settle trade. Those kept in European banks escaped the American meltings that followed 1933.
Only one example is legal in private hands; the rest were melted or seized. Any coin dated 1933 offered elsewhere should therefore be treated with the greatest suspicion.