1850 $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle NGC AU55 (CAC)

First year of circulation strike (1849 saw two patterns created) of the popular, long-running series (1850-1907). The issue from 1850 has always been cherished by collectors, both as a first-year issue and due to its roots in the California Gold Rush. Despite its large mintage (1,170,261) demand for the 1850 has always been strong, pushing prices upward. Plus NGC has only graded 84 pieces in MS60 through MS65, making AU examples more desirable. There have been 328 graded AU55 by NGC, with 263 finer. In CAC there are 22 in AU55, with 46 finer.

Gold specialist Doug Winter writes, "The 1850 double eagle is a very popular issue as it is the first collectible issue from this mint. It is reasonably available in lower grades ... but it becomes harder to locate in the middle About Uncirculated range and it is scarce in properly graded AU58. This issue is very scarce and popular in Uncirculated and it is rare in MS62, very rare in MS63 and exceedingly rare above this."

The 1849 Double Eagle Pattern crafted by James B. Longacre. It is housed in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian.

The creation of the then new double eagle coin was inextricably tied to legislation for the gold dollar. It was believed that the smaller coin would not pass in the House of Representatives, and the Mint Director Robert M. Patterson objected to its passage also. The issue was the minuscule size of the gold dollar; Patterson basically saw it as play money and considered it not fit for a great nation.

But ... when the new double eagle was added to the legislation for the gold dollar, a new, powerful constituency emerged for the large coin. The banking community liked the $20 gold piece, for it could be used to store large volumes of money in a relatively small space. Therefore the tiny gold dollar rode the coat tails of the substantial double eagle's popularity and passed along with it.