1866-S Double Eagle (1866-S $20) PCGS AU50. Sharp & lustrous. 1st-year of type. Mint luster gleams from within the devices of this bright 1866-S Double Eagle. Numerous surface abrasion marks and slight wear are in keeping with the grade assigned. The strike is average on the reverse and somewhat less so on the obverse.

Initiated by the Reverend M.R. Watkinson of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, public pressure on Congress caused a revision in the coinage law. The act required that all coins large enough to hold it be required to have the motto IN GOD WE TRUST added. James B. Longacre, designer of the Liberty Head or Coronet Double Eagle added it to the reverse by enlarging the oval of stars and placing the motto within in.

In 1866 new dies were shipped to San Francisco to make the new reverse for the Motto Added coins. However, the new dies did not reach San Francisco on time, and 1866-S No Motto coins were struck. The present coin was struck from dies that arrived later in the year and have the new motto included.