1996

1898-S $20 Liberty NGC MS65

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:4,500.00 USD Estimated At:9,000.00 - 11,000.00 USD
1898-S $20 Liberty NGC MS65
Smooth cartwheel luster embellishes the satiny, matte-like surfaces of this attractively toned gem. A blend of light greenish to faint peach-gold toning covers both sides. The strike is something also out of the ordinary for 1898-S, with the design elements clear and detailed including all obverse stars. Only a few light contact marks on the surface away from an even higher grade.

America's bi-metallic money system of the 1890s called for silver to be valued at a ratio of 16:1 with gold. Since much silver was being mined out west by the silver states in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s, there was a big political push with both the farm states and the silver states together lobbying for the proposed bi-metallic plan. The presidential election of 1896 was about two main issues; silver and American imperialism. During the election William McKinley sat on his front porch in Ohio and lectured delegations from around the country about the integrity of keeping big $20 gold pieces rolling off the presses. Meanwhile William Jennings Bryan stormed across Middle America tooting his horn for "cheap" money to bail out debtors and farmers. Bryan claimed that mankind was being crucified on a "cross of gold". Bryan said the existing gold standard was being forced upon the common man by the big Eastern bankers. He campaigned forcefully in the 1890s and early 1900s for a monetary system based on easy money (silver and gold) and against imperialism, but McKinley won contest and the gold standard held firm.
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