1962

1850 $20 Liberty NGC MS61

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:5,500.00 USD Estimated At:11,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD
1850 $20 Liberty NGC MS61
An important bidding opportunity for the Mint quality type collector, this Type One Twenty of the first year of issue is full-gold in color with frosty luster. Better than average strike for the series and date with only minor abrasions in the obverse and reverse fields.

One of the consequences of the immense flood of gold from California was an inordinate increase in gold bullion coming to the Philadelphia Mint for coinage. Authorities felt that large-scale domestic or international transactions payable in gold should be made in more compact form than eagles or smaller denominations. Accordingly, Rep. James Iver McKay (D.N.C.) was persuaded to introduce an amendment to his Gold Dollar bill, Feb. 1849, which would also authorize coinage of $20s, to be called Double Eagles. These were to weigh 516 grains = 33.436 grams, a little over a troy ounce each counting the 10% copper alloy, and be roughly comparable in value to several Latin American denominations. This latter attribute would later lead to mass exportation of the denomination. (#8902)