Numismatic

1857-S $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle AU-58 NGC

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In 1857, the San Francisco Mint struck a significant run of 970,500 gold double eagles, each containing nearly a full ounce of gold. This massive twenty dollar piece represents a fascinating era of American coinage, produced directly in the region where the gold rush transformed the nation's economy. Marked with the 'S' mint mark, this issue carries the tangible legacy of Western frontier minting. The obverse features a left-facing portrait of Liberty. Her hair is bound by a band clearly inscribed with the word 'Liberty', and she is encircled by thirteen stars representing the original colonies. The year 1857 is boldly struck at the bottom of the design. On the reverse, a detailed heraldic eagle displays a shield across its chest. Thirteen stars form an arc above the eagle, which is surrounded by the legend 'United States of America' and the face value of twenty dollars. This combination of patriotic motifs on a heavy gold canvas makes the 1857-S double eagle a captivating artifact of mid-nineteenth-century American artistry.