Certified $20 Gold Liberty 1871-S AU53 NGC

When the early US Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1792, one of the major points of that legislation was the definition of the coinage to be struck. The denominations were to be struck in copper, silver, and gold. They determined that the gold coins should be struck in Quarter-Eagle ($2.50), Half-Eagle ($5.00), and Eagle ($10.00) denominations. That worked well for the country until large deposits of gold were found in California in the 1840s. So much gold was located that not only was a mint built in San Francisco, but also, a larger denomination and size gold coin was first struck. The new coin was a Twenty-dollar denomination coin, called a ‘Double Eagle.’ This new series of gold coins was first struck for circulation in 1850 and continued through 1907. This first series was called the “Liberty Head” due to the bust of Miss Liberty, which dominated the obverse. Designed by James B. Longacre, he simply made minor modifications to Christian Gobrecht’s “Liberty Head ” design that was currently being struck on the earlier gold coins on $2,50, $5.00, and $10.00 denominations. The obverse of this Liberty Head Double Eagle depicts a portrait of Miss Liberty, facing to the left. Liberty is wearing a crown on her head and it is inscribed the word “LIBERTY,” across it. The reverse of this Double Eagle displays a large American Bald Eagle. The wings are upraised and outstretched and its body is covered with a patriotic shield. The eagle has an olive branch in one claw and three arrows in the other. In the eagle’s beak is a ribbon which is inscribed “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” (Out of Many, One). There is a ring of 13 six-pointed stars, with the motto, “IN GOD WE TRUST.” The sun's rays are shining above the stars. “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” is on the upper field of the coin while on the lower is the denomination of “TWENTY D.” The total mintage for this date and mint is 928,000 coins. This historic coin was graded as About Uncirculated AU-53 by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).