Double Eagle Gold Coin: A Gorgeous Investment

James B. Longacre designed the $20 Liberty with the obverse side featuring Lady Liberty wearing a crown inscribed with the word "LIBERTY." The image of Lady Liberty is adorned by 13 stars (representing the original thirteen colonies) arched around her head. The reverse side of the gold coin also features 13 stars, an eagle with a shield, and the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" displayed in arch-like form, encircling the eagle and shield.

The Saint-Gaudens double eagle is named for the designer, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. His design on the high-relief $20 gold piece is considered to be a masterpiece among American coinage designs. The coin was problematic. The high relief caused required considerably more work to produce. Not only did it take ELEVEN strikes to imprint all of the details on the coin, bankers found that the coins would not stack nicely, which made their job even harder. The result was the demand by the Mint that a low relief version be produced.

"Beaver Coins" (Whose name comes from the image of the beaver displayed on the cons' obverse.) were minted by the Provisional Government of Oregon in 1849. The coins were available in 5 and 10 dollar denominations.

The Beaver Coins were meant to be equal to gold U.S. coinage of the same denomination. But these coins contained ten percent more gold than their intended counterparts.

Were They Legal?

While the U.S. Constitution expressly forbids governmental entities in the United States other than the Federal Government to produce coinage, the Provisional Government of the Oregon Territory argued that "necessity knows no laws". It wasalso be argued that during the Anglo-American joint occupation of Oregon, the territory was not officially part of either government, and any established government could act as it wished. After Oregon was officially organized as a U.S. Territory the coins were clearly unconstitutional. Joseph Lane, the first U.S. territorial governor, remedied this upon his examination of all the provisional government's laws, and struck the law calling for the minting of coinage.

The U.S. Government's reaction to the coins was to buy them up at a premium rate in exchange for U.S. currency. The coins were called in by the San Francisco Mint and taken out of circulation.