1850 $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle NGC XF45

This offering from AUCM is the first year of circulation strikes of the popular, long-running Liberty Head double eagle series (1850-1907). Examples from 1850 have always been cherished by collectors, both as a first-year issue, as well as its roots in the California Gold Rush. Despite a large mintage (1,170,261) demand for the 1850 has always been strong, pushing prices upward. NGC has graded 338 as XF45, with 1,139 finer.

James B. Longacre, the artist-engraver who crafted the Liberty Head design.

Gold specialist Doug Winter writes, "The 1850 double eagle is a very popular issue as it is the first collectible issue from this mint. It is reasonably available in lower grades ... but it becomes harder to locate in the middle About Uncirculated range and it is scarce in properly graded AU58. This issue is very scarce and popular in Uncirculated and it is rare in MS62, very rare in MS63 and exceedingly rare above this."