Numismatic

1861-S $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle AU-55 NGC

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Struck in the year 1861, this impressive United States Double Eagle represents a classic era of American gold coinage. Produced at the San Francisco Mint, this twenty-dollar denomination contains 0.9675 troy ounces of gold with a purity of 0.900. While 748,750 of these pieces were originally minted, countless examples of this issue were melted down over the decades, making surviving specimens highly compelling to study. The obverse of the coin features a left-facing portrait of Liberty, her hair bound by a band clearly inscribed with her name. Thirteen stars encircle her image, representing the original colonies, with the date 1861 positioned at the bottom. This design, along with the reverse, was created by James B. Longacre and served as the face of the double eagle from 1850 to 1907. On the reverse, a detailed heraldic eagle holds a shield, positioned beneath a halo of thirteen stars. The inscriptions on this side identify the issuing nation as the United States of America and state the face value of twenty dollars. Coins struck at the western facility are distinguished by the 'S' mint mark, marking their origin from the early days of the San Francisco Mint.