Numismatic

1882-S $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle AU

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Struck at the San Francisco Mint, this 1882 twenty-dollar gold piece represents a classic era of American coinage. It contains 0.9675 troy ounces of gold with a purity of 0.900. While many of these large gold issues were melted down in later decades, surviving specimens like this one, preserved in Almost Uncirculated condition, offer a direct link to the late nineteenth century. The obverse features a left-facing portrait of Liberty, her hair bound by a band displaying her name, with thirteen stars representing the original colonies encircling her. On the reverse, artist James B. Longacre placed a detailed heraldic eagle with a protective shield over its chest, beneath a canopy of thirteen stars. The reverse also displays the country of origin, United States of America, and the twenty-dollar denomination. This enduring design was produced by the United States Mint from 1850 to 1907.