Certified 1877-S Pre-33 $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle Coins

Certified 1877-S Pre-33 $20 Gold Liberty Double Eagles

The Liberty Double Eagle is a notable design that appeared on the $20 denomination of US coins for many years. Unlike the other denominations of the US Eagle Series, which began in the 1790s, the Double Eagle was introduced later, following the California Gold Rush, with its first release in 1850. By the 1870s, it was widely used both in the United States and abroad. Discover more about the 1877-S Double Eagles today!

Double Eagle Production in the 1870s

Before the US Civil War began in 1861, the Liberty Gold Double Eagle was produced at three mints each year: Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San Francisco. During 1850-1861, Philadelphia was the primary mint for these coins. The Civil War disrupted operations at the New Orleans Mint, and gold hoarding was prevalent in the Eastern United States.

During the war and the subsequent Reconstruction Era, the San Francisco Mint became the main producer of Liberty Gold Double Eagles. In 1877, the production was centered in the American West.

In 1877, the San Francisco Mint produced 1,735,000 Double Eagles. Additionally, the Carson City Mint contributed 42,565 coins, totaling nearly 1.8 million coins from Western mints. In comparison, the Philadelphia Mint produced only 397,650 coins. The San Francisco Mint alone struck over four times as many coins as Philadelphia.

Final Liberty Double Eagle Design Type

One of the key features of the 1877 $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle is the design change on the reverse. The US Mint produced three reverse designs for the Liberty Gold Double Eagle. The first, Type I, was used from 1849 to 1866. The Type II design was in use from 1866 to 1876.

In 1877, the US Mint introduced the Type III reverse design, which featured the Great Seal of the United States with the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” added in a ring of stars above the eagle. This design also changed the denomination inscription from “TWENTY D.” to “TWENTY DOLLARS.”

On the obverse, the $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle retained James B. Longacre’s original Liberty bust, based on Christian Gobrecht’s 1836 design. Liberty is shown in left-profile relief with a coronet marked “LIBERTY” and a ring of 13 stars around her, with the 1877 date at the bottom.

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