1854-S $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle NGC AU55

An important first-year issue from the San Francisco Mint

Writes Doug Winter, “The 1854-S is a numismatically significant issue due to its status as the first double eagle struck at the recently-opened San Francisco mint …. The 1854-S is one of the better-struck Type One double eagles from this mint. The obverse is well-detailed with sharp hair curls, stars, and denticles.”

NGC has graded 40 as AU55 with 76 finer. Collectors Universe gives this issue a price of $22,500.00 in AU55.

This specimen from the first year of the San Francisco Mint was struck as a result of the California Gold Rush that began in the late 1840s. It was as the Treasury was stockpiling gold that Congress passed legislation to craft and produce the Double Eagle coin in 1849. Shortly thereafter, engraver James B. Longacre created the design of the largest circulating gold coin in American history. When the new mint in San Francisco opened their doors, it was the 1854-S double eagle that took up most of their energy and efforts, to the tune of 141,468 pieces. Virtually all of them entered circulation in the hard money-starved West. This rare piece would make an excellent addition to a type set of U.S. gold coins or S-Mint gold double eagles.

Operations at the San Francisco Mint: “Running the gold into ingots,” from Hutchings’ Illus. Calif. Magazine, Vol. 1, October 1856. Image: Library of Congress.