Certified $20 Gold Liberty 1865-S XF45 NGC

This is a very nice Civil War era coin that was struck towards the end of the War. While the armies of the Union and Confederacy were fighting for control of the country, US Mint employees were in the Mint striking coins. This coin is a San Francisco Mint-struck 1865-S $20 Liberty Head gold coin that was graded by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) as Extremely Fine-45. The coin was designed by James Longacre who was the Chief Engraver of the US Mint and he modelled it after Christian Gobrecht’s Liberty Head gold coin series, which was first struck in the late 1830s. The obverse has a large portrait of an allegorical representation of Miss Liberty’s portrait, facing to the left. Her large portrait is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars and the date is below the portrait. The reverse depicts a large, heraldic-style eagle with a banner bearing “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” on it. There is an “S” mintmark for San Francisco on the reverse. It is a neat and historic Civil War era, large, heavy gold coin from San Francisco.