1861 Double Eagle - 1861 $20 NGC AU53. Civil War $20 Liberty. This Choice About Uncirculated, Civil War dated 1861 Double Eagle has original mint luster remaining in protected areas. The strike is excellent with full details on the centers of the stars and the design elements of the reverse, especially the eagle. Just a touch of wear on the highest points keeps this beauty from a Mint State grade. The surfaces are original and clean with no notable abrasion marks or other distractions.

James Barton Longacre designed the pattern for the twenty dollar double eagle in 1849. It was produced because of the huge amount of gold that came into the Mint from California. With the discovery of gold at Sutters Mill in January 1848, the California gold rush began. It led to an influx of miners and others into the area. The vast quantity of gold produced led to a need for a standard form of exchange. The double eagle was the governments response. They also felt that the new denomination would be useful for large commercial transactions and that it would facilitate foreign trade.

Longacres design for the double eagle shows a Liberty head facing left, wearing coronet inscribed LIBERTY. Her hair is tightly tied in the back with two loose curls hanging down her neck to the end of the truncation. She is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars with the date below. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with elaborate ribbons on both sides of the shield extending from the top corner down to the eagles tail feathers. The ribbons are inscribed, on the left E PLURIBUS and UNUM on the right. The ribbons were added to the design to symbolize the denomination since this was the first twenty dollar coin. There is an oval of thirteen stars above the eagles head and an arc of rays from wing tip to wing tip behind the upper half of the oval. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc above the eagle, and the denomination TWENTY D. is below.

In 1844 Longacre was appointed Mint Engraver through the influence of Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. After overcoming opposition by the Chief Coiner, Franklin Peale, who was fearful that the new Engraver would interfere with his illegal medal manufacturing business using the Mint facilities, Longacre did well. He was responsible for creating many new designs including the Indian Head cent, the two-cent piece, the Shield nickel, the Liberty Head gold dollar, the Indian Princess gold dollar, the three-dollar gold piece, and the Liberty Head double eagle.
Here is an opportunity to own an authentic Civil War artifact, minted in Philadelphia during the first year of the war. Not only is it an attractive double eagle, it has lasting value.