1871-CC $20 (1871-CC Double Eagle) NGC XF Details. Type 2 Double Eagle. Here is an opportunity to obtain rarity for less than one might expect. This wholesome looking Carson City 1871-CC Double Eagle has a net grade of XF; however, the coin has the details of one that would grade AU50. The devices are fully lustrous and the surface marks are acceptable for an AU coin. The strike is above average in general and full on the peripheries with all of the details of the stars, date, and legends easy to see. The 7 and the 1 almost touch and the CC is tiny and looks as if it is stuck between the eagles tail feathers and the right upright of the N in TWENTY.

James Longacre designed the double eagle. It 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. The mint mark is between the tail feathers and the N of TWENTY.

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the original double eagle by enlarging the oval of stars above the eagles head and placing the motto in it. This modification did not require a major alteration of the design as was the case with adding the motto to the lower denominations. It was made at the behest of Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of Treasury and Congress because of pressure brought about by the Reverend M.R. Watkinson of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania.

The double eagle was made 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 it would be useful for large commercial transactions and would facilitate foreign trade.