Numismatic

1897 $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle BU

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In 1897, the Philadelphia Mint produced a remarkable run of 1,383,175 gold coins, each carrying a face value of twenty dollars. These impressive pieces, known as Double Eagles, were struck in 90 percent pure gold, containing exactly 0.9675 troy ounces of the precious metal. Belonging to an era of United States coinage that ended in 1933, this specific coin represents a design tradition that spanned more than half a century, from 1850 to 1907. The visual artistry of this coin was created by James B. Longacre. On the obverse, a left-facing portrait of Liberty is crowned with a hair band clearly displaying her name. A ring of thirteen stars encircles her, representing the original colonies. The reverse side presents a detailed heraldic eagle shielding its chest, with another cluster of thirteen stars positioned above its head. Bold inscriptions on the reverse identify the nation as the United States of America and state the denomination as twenty dollars.