Double Eagle Gold Coin

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Summary

Double Eagle gold coins are US government minted coins of a mass 33.43 grams, fineness of 90%, 34mm in diameter, 2.4mm in thickness, and carry a fine gold content 30.09 grams. There two main types of Double Eagle gold coins. The Liberty Head and Saint Gaudens. The numismatic value, which is independent of intrinsic gold value, ranges from zero to several thousand dollars. Unless professionally graded and sealed, most Double Eagle gold coins are worth their gold content or a little bit more.

Mintage

Double Eagle gold coins were minted from 1849 to 1933. Prior to that there were no Double Eagles, only Eagles, Half Eagles and Quarter Eagles. The first Double Eagles were minted soon after the California Gold Rush, which greatly added to gold supply in the USA. The last double Eagles were minted in 1933. Of those coins, only one went into circulation, and was used for a US government overseas payment. That coin is the only 1933 survivor. All the other 1933 gold coins were supposedly melted due to the Roosevelt gold recall. Apparently there are no other official 1933 Double Eagle gold coin survivors, unless they were stolen from the mint.

Other Denominations

Double Eagle gold coins are denominated at $20. Their denomination is based on the fact that they are twice the size of already in circulation prior to 1849 of the Eagle gold coin. The Eagle gold coin is denominated at $10. The Eagle gold coin mintage as started in 1795, by the US Mint, together with the Half Eagle, and Quarter Eagle gold coins. Thus, each gold coin is double the size of the next size down, and half the size of the next size up.

(2) One Quarter Eagle gold coins = (1) Half Eagle gold coin
(2) Half Eagle gold coins = (1) Eagle gold coin
(2) Eagle gold coins = (1) Double Eagle gold coin

Fineness and Composition of Gold Eagle Coins

Double Eagle gold coins are 90% fine gold. This means that of the total mass of the gold coin, 90% is pure gold. The conversion to the karat fineness standard is 0.9 x 24K = 21.6K. The rest of the mass is “hardener”.
Double Eagle gold coins are composed of gold, copper and silver because they were meant for circulation. This is common of the contemporary gold coins of the day. At that time people still did not trust paper currency. In fact, in California, and other states, it was illegal to pay wages with anything other than “specie”, meaning gold and silver. Thus, the gold coins needed to tough. Thus, gold had to be alloyed with “hardeners”. The hardener is copper. However, although it can be done, copper does not easily bind with gold. For this to happen, a small amount of silver is used. In a gold coin what matters is the fine gold content, the hardener is not counted as part of the coin’s value.

Main Types of Gold Eagle Coins

There two main types of Double Eagle gold coins. The Liberty Head, and the Saint Gaudens. In addition, there are few sub-types of each, but that numismatic fact is beyond the scope of this article.
The Liberty Head type Double Eagle gold coin was minted from 1849 to 1907. This type of gold coin features in the obverse, the head of Liberty in profile facing to the left, wearing a coronet, and the mint date at the bottom. The reverse of the gold coin features the Coat of Arms of the United States
The Saint Gaudens type Double Eagle gold coin was minted from 1907 to 1933. This type of gold coin features, in the obverse, a flying eagle going left. The reverse of the gold coin features Liberty Holding the Torch and the Olive branch.
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