1861 $20 (1861 Double Eagle) NGC AU58. Type 1 Double Eagle. This Civil War dated 1861 Double Eagle comes with a full strike and significant mint luster remaining in protected areas. The centers of the stars are bold as are the reverse design details. Hair details are less distinct on coins from 1859 to the 1890’s. The surfaces are clean for the grade, with no notable distractions. The grade of AU58 is confirmed by the separation between the back of the coronet and Liberty’s hair.

James Barton Longacre designed the pattern for the twenty dollar coin in 1849. It was produced because of the huge amount of gold that came into the Mint from California. With the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in January 1848, the California gold rush began. It led to an influx of miners and others into the area. The vast quantity of gold produced led to a need for a standard form of exchange. The double eagle was the government’s response. They also felt that it would be useful for large commercial transactions and that it would facilitate foreign trade.

Longacre’s design shows a Liberty head facing left wearing coronet inscribed LIBERTY. Her hair is tightly tied in the back with two loose curls hanging down her neck to the end of the truncation. She is surrounded by thirteen six pointed stars with the date below. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with elaborate ribbons on both sides of the shield extending from the top corner down to the eagle’s tail feathers. The ribbons are inscribed, on the left E PLURIBUS and UNUM on the right. The ribbons were added to the design to symbolize the denomination since this was the first twenty dollar coin. There is an oval of thirteen stars above the eagle’s head and an arc of rays from wing tip to wing tip behind the upper half of the oval. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc above the eagle, and the denomination TWENTY D. is below.