Double Eagle Gold Coins - Liberty Head Coronet and Saint Gaudens
History of Double Eagle Gold Coins - In 1792, President George Washington signed into law the Coinage Act, which established the United States Mint, and listed the denominations of coins that would be released by the mint. There were ten coins approved: the half cent, the cent, the half dismes, the dismes, the quarter dollar, the half dollar, the dollar, the quarter eagle, the half eagle, and the eagle.
The "eagle" was the base-unit for gold coinage, that base-unit being ten dollars. The quarter eagle had a denomination of two dollars and fifty cents, and the half eagle of five dollars. The eagle was produced from 1795 to 1804, when President Jefferson ordered the production halted production. (The quarter- and half-eagles continued to be produced.)
In 1849, after the discovery of plentiful gold in California, a second Coinage Act was passed, which re-instituted the production of the eagle, and introduced the double eagle (twenty dollars) and the gold dollar.
A new design for the eagle – and for use on the new double eagle – was required. The previous eagle had featured a bust of Liberty, wearing a liberty cap made famous by the French Revolution. Engraver Christian Gobrecht's design featured a bust of Liberty wearing a coronet, on which was inscribed the word Liberty. Originally termed Liberty Heads, since the 1990s these have been called Coronet Heads.
Liberty Head Coronet Double Eagle (1849 - 1907)
There are three types of Liberty Head gold coins (or Coronet Heads). Type 1 (1850 - 1866) does not have the motto, IN GOD WE TRUST. There's a Type IA, which was only minted during 1861, which has a modified reverse designed by Anthony C. Paquet.
From 1866-1876 we have the Liberty Head Type 2, with the motto IN GOD WE TRUST added within the circle of stars above the eagle, on the reverse. Other changes to the eagle design were also made.
Type 3 (1877 - 1907) features a repositioned head of Miss Liberty on the obverse, undertaken by William Barber. However, what makes it a different type is that on the reverse, the denomination was changed from TWENTY D to TWENTY DOLLARS.
Only one 1849 double eagle is known to exist. It is on view at the National Numismatic Collections at the Smithsonian.
Many of these Coronet Heads are relatively scarce, due to low minting quantities. The 1850 is readily available, however, and quite popular, since it was the first year of issue. The 1850-O (New Orleans mint) is relatively scare. Most of these coins minted in New Orleans are, in particular the 1854-O. The 1854 "Large Date" Coronet Head, from Philadelphia, is the rarest double eagle from that mint. Only two coins of the 1861 "Paquet reverse" are known to exist. The 1861-S "Paquet reverse" from the San Francisco mint is also the rarest double eagle from that mint.
The Saint Gaudens Double Eagle (1907 - 1933)
President Teddy Roosevelt disliked the way American money looked, and instituted a program to try to alter the designs to show more artistic merit, similar to the coins of the ancient Greeks. To this end, he asked sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens to create a new design for the double eagle as well as for the eagle - now called the "Indian Head" eagle.
Saint Gauden's design featured Liberty Walking, holding a torch. There are three types of these double eagles as well. The initial Saint Gaudens coin, Type 4 (continuing the numbering from the Coronet types), was created in high relief, with the date given in Roman numerals. However, this design did not allow banks to stack the coins as was their custom, so in Type 5, the design was changed to low relief, and the year was given in Arabic numerals.
Neither of these two types had the motto IN GOD WE TRUST, because Roosevelt didn't believe the word GOD should be used on coinage. Also, he felt it interfered with the artistic quality of the design. He was over-ruled by Congress, and in 1908, Type 6 came into being - low relief, Arabic numerals, and the motto.
Most of the "ultra-high" relief coins still survive, about 22 of them. There was also the high relief variety. About 12,000 of these were minted, some with variations to the rim. Today, about 6,000 still exist. The low-relief coins were minted in much greater volume, and correspondingly more still exist. They are available in a variety of grades. Some years are also scarcer than others.
In 1912, when New Mexico and Arizona joined the Union, two new stars were added to the 46 currently on the reverse. This should technically qualify it to be a new design type, but numismatists have chosen to ignore the difference.
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