Certified $20 Gold Liberty 1876 MS60 NGC

When the Coinage Act of 1792 was passed, it mandated that a Mint be built to strike US Coins. It also defined the denominations of the coins to be struck. The largest denomination of gold coin to be struck was an Eagle, with a face value of $10.00. However, large deposits of natural gold were found in California in the late 1840s. In 1849 the new Twenty-dollar denomination gold coin, called a ‘Double Eagle,’ was struck at the Philadelphia Mint. 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 in most 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 583,860 coins. This historic coin was graded as MS60 by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).