Certified US Gold $20 Liberty 1863-S XF45 NGC

This is a very neat Civil War era coin that was struck during the darkest days of that war when the outcome was still in jeopardy. Its amazing to realize that while the armies of the Union and Confederacy were fighting for control of the country, US Mint employees were striking coins. But Im sure many of these coins were used to pay war debts and soldiers’ monthly pay. This coin is a San Francisco Mint-struck 1863-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. Ther is an “S” mintmark for San Francisco on the reverse. It has been graded as Extremely Fine-45 by NGC and is a neat and historic Civil War coin.