1877-CC $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle PCGS XF45

With its mintage of 42,564, this double eagle issue from the Carson City Mint is popular with specialists in American gold coinage. Plus, this is the first issue from the Carson City Mint of the Type III Double Eagle (1877-1907). PCGS has graded 215 examples as XF45 with 342 finer. Collectors Universe gives this issue a price of $9,000.00 in XF45.

Four men outside a mine shaft in the Sierra Nevada gold mining district of California.

Double Eagles coins from the Carson City Mint served two important functions. They were a circulating medium of exchange and a storehouse of value. Those big $20 gold pieces were the simplest way to produce, transport, and trade the vast amount of gold that had recently been extracted from the mines of Nevada and other western states. During the California Gold Rush and for many years afterwards, paper money was contemptuously derided in the West. Therefore gold coins were very important in everyday business dealings, becoming the preferred method of payment in the Old American West. That is why so many Carson City double eagles are found in relatively low grades today in the 21st century. More than most other Liberty head $20 gold pieces, those from the Carson City Mint remain popular and have grown in value over the years.