They weigh 33.436 grams for a title of 900/1000e, they contain 0.967 ounces of pure gold. Indeed, gold is very malleable and must be reinforced by a harder metal to resist the constraints of the circulation of coins. The coins are made of 90% gold and 10% copper alloys. The 20 dollar coin was then logically called its double. This is to distinguish it from the traditional American “Eagle”: the reference 10 dollar gold coin called Eagle, because of the eagle design struck on its reverse. The 20 dollar coin also has a second nickname: Double Eagle. The 20 dollar coin retains these two national emblems: the allegory of liberty and the eagle. Gold coins of 5 and 10 dollars were then struck from 1795. In 1792, the law established the rules for a local currency: it had to bear an allegory of liberty on the obverse with the year of minting, and an eagle on the reverse. Due to the lack of English currency, the coins used were escudos, Spanish pistols, Portuguese reis and French gold Louis, from neighboring colonies. Twenty dollar coins are also referred to as Liberty Head because the obverse of the coins depicts a portrait of Liberty.īetween colonization and 1792, the United States used mostly foreign currencies for trade. Nicknames and features of the 20 dollar gold coin A Liberty dollar In total, approximately 175 million Liberty 20 dollar gold coins were put into circulation with a face value of 3.5 billion dollars. The Great Depression in 1933 brought an end to the production of the 20 dollar gold coin and all American gold coins. The quantities of gold were so large that it was easier and faster to create a large 20 dollar coin rather than smaller 5 or 10 dollar coins. Silver coins quickly disappeared and were replaced by 20 dollar gold coins. The value of silver surpassed that of gold and it became more attractive to melt silver coins into bullion.

The influx of gold from California dramatically changed the world market for the metal.

The government immediately took advantage of this and decided to create a new 20 dollar gold coin. © Tony Oliver from Denver, CO, USA Wikimedia

Gold coins made by the us mint