In this week's Story of... video documentary maker Mark Apsolon tells the story of the Liberty head double eagle coin.
Apsolon traces the $20 coin's history from the Gold Act of March 3, 1849, introduced to meet demand for currency spurred on by the Gold Rush.
The $20 double eagle came into being following the correct assertion by James McKay, a North Carolina congressman, that it would prove more popular than its $1 equivalent.
What follows is a story that takes in corruption at the US Mint, the appointment of engraver James Longacre to design the coin, and how in 1849 - for just one day - the US had no President to govern over it...
 The double eagle was originally designed by James Longacre, but did he really do a good job? |
Also fascinating is Longacre's appointment to design the coin. Experts and historians have since cast doubts over whether he was really qualified enough to do the job.
Yet, over a century later, the double eagle's continuing popularity among numismatists - and growing investment value - arguably puts paid to the doubters' arguments.
Only last week, a 1921 double eagle, graded MS63 by PCGS and pedigreed to the famous Norweb Collection, sold for an incredible $218,500 at Heritage Auction Galleries on April 29.
Elsewhere, at the Florida United Numismatics (or FUN) sale last January, a 1927-D Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle sold for almost $1.5m.
 The 1933 double eagle, valued at $8.9m |
An internet bidder placed a winning bid of $1,495,000 for the coin - before the live auction had even started.
And, as if that isn't enough, the 1933 Double Eagle currently holds the record for highest value realised at auction by a single US coin, having once commanded a price of $7.59m.
While it only boasts the global coin market's second-highest value, the 1933 Double Eagle is in fact the rarest and most famous US coin in the world, with a current estimated market value of $8.9m.
The above video provides a fascinating and entertaining look at a coin that will continue to dominate the collectors' markets for many years to come.
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