Series Spotlight - $20 Liberty Gold 1849-1907

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Highlighting one of the many
important coin series in
United States coinage history

$20 Liberty Gold
1849-1907

HISTORY

         The $20 Liberty Gold Coin was first minted in 1850, although in 1849 a one-of-a-kind pattern was struck which now resides in the Smithsonian. Over one million coins were minted in Philadelphia in 1850 and subsequently through the year 1907. There are three different types (I, II, III), with minor changes in each period. The original designer was James B. Longacre; this TI design ran through 1866 and is known as the "Without Motto" reverse. In 1866, the motto "In God We Trust" was added above the Eagle on the reverse and appropriately known as "With Motto" (there was an overlap in 1866 of both TI and TII). In 1877, the TIII was initiated with a very minor change, spelling out the word "Dollars" on the reverse where it originally was "D.". There are numerous dates which have significant rarity value: the 1854 O, 55 O, 56 O, 70 CC, 82, 1883, 84, & 87 (Proof only issues), 86, and 91. The scarcity of these issues makes completing a set quite difficult, although not impossible. There was one other design change in 1861, known as the Paquet Reverse, named after the designer Anthony C. Paquet. However, this 'tall letter' type is quite rare as it was minted for very short period of time.

MINTS

         There were five Mints used to produce the $20 Liberty: Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, and Denver. Philadelphia minted coins every year from 1849 to 1907. New Orleans produced coins initially in 1850-61, and later in 1879. San Francisco struck coins in 1854-85, 87-1907. Carson City issued coins in 1870-79, 82-85, 89-93. Denver got into the act very late and minted coins only in 1906 and 1907.

TERMINOLOGY

Double Eagle - Official terminology of the $20 Gold piece which is twice the denomination of the 'eagle' or $10 gold piece. The eagle and the dollar were the basis of the U.S. currency system up until the early 1970s.

Without Motto/With Motto - The Twenty Dollar Liberty was originally minted without the motto on the reverse from 1849 to 1866 and known as Type I. The motto "In God We Trust" was added to the reverse, in 1866, just above the Eagle which began the Type II era.

RECOMMENDED REFERENCES

Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, by Walter Breen

Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection, by John Dannreuther

Buyer's Guide to United States Gold Coins, by Q. David Bowers

Photograde, by James F. Ruddy

Series Stats

Series
$20 Liberty Gold

Series Run
1849-1907

Designer
James B. Longacre

Weight
33.436 grams

Net Weight
.96750 ounces pure gold

Composition
.900 gold
.100 copper