1853 $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle PCGS AU53 (CAC)

This example is from the earliest 'golden era' of Philadelphia Mint-produced double eagles; this quite short 'era' begins with the minting of the famed 1849 Liberty Head double eagle pattern up to 1854, when the San Francisco Mint first began producing coinage.

As economic conditions would suggest, the main Mint in Philadelphia produced the bulk of production of double eagles during that time. The years 1850 to 1854 saw over a million pieces struck each year, with multiple-million strikings in the middle years of 1851 and 1852. However, the 1853 has a much lower mintage that of the 1851 and 1852 issues. PCGS has graded 158 in AU53, with 376 finer. In CAC, there are 22 in AU53, with 111 finer.

James B. Longacre, who crafted the design of the popular Liberty head double eagle.