Liberty $20 Gold Coin (1850-1907)
Mint Location: Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, Denver.
Designer: James B. Longacre and Anthony C. Paquet (1861 only)
Composition: 90% gold; 10% copper
Weight: 33.436g
Edge Type: Reeded
The obverse depicts a head of Liberty in the Greco-Roman style, facing left, with her
hair pulled back in a bun. She wears a coronet, inscribed “LIBERTY”, and is surrounded
by thirteen stars, and the date. The reverse features a heraldic eagle, holding a double ribbon, on which “E Pluribus Unum” is inscribed. The double ribbon is an allusion by Longacre to the denomination of the
piece he was designing. The eagle protects a shield, which represents the nation, and holds
an olive branch and arrows. Above the bird, Longacre again placed thirteen stars, arranged as a halo,
together with an arc of rays.
There were 3 design Types for this coin. Type 1, No Motto (1849-1866),Type 2, With Motto, “TWENTY D.” on Reverse (1866-1876) and Type 3, With Motto, “TWENTY DOLLARS” on Reverse (1877-1907).
Coin Values: The rarest are the 1854-O, 1856-O, 1861-S Paquet reverse, 1870-CC, and the 1879-O. Also of interest to collectors is the 1989 recovery of the wreckage of the S.S. Central America with thousands of 1857-S Double Eagles on board. All graded in Mint State. The ship had gone down off the coast of North Carolina on its voyage from San Francisco to New York. Values range from a 1852-O MS61 Gold $20 Liberty Head (Type1) that sold for $53,550, a 1857-S MS-66 Gold $20 Liberty Head (Type1) S Shipwreck S.S. Central America which sold for $15,000, a 1874-CC AU Details Gold $20 Liberty Head (Type2) that sold for $1600, and a 1903 MS-65+ Gold $20 Liberty Head (Type3) $5500.
1849 Gold $20 Liberty Head (Type1)
1866 Gold $20 Liberty Head (Type2)
1877 Gold $20 Liberty Head (Type3)