United States 1860 20 dollars
This specimen was lot 3783 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabruck, March 2024), where it sold for €2,400 (about US$3,149 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VEREINIGTE STAATEN VON AMERIKA. 20 Dollars 1860, Philadelphia. Liberty. 30,09 g Feingold. In US-Plastikholder der NGC mit der Bewertung AU 55 (6643503-001). GOLD. Kl. Kratzer, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (United States of America, twenty dollars of 1860, Philadelphia mint. Graded NGC AU-55, light hairlines, very fine to extremely fine.)"
The immense quantities of gold coming from California during the Gold Rush prompted Congress to approve the issue of a new coin, the twenty dollar gold piece. One example, probably a pattern, exists of the 1849 but substantial quantities were made at Philadelphia and New Orleans, starting in 1850. A new branch mint was constructed at San Francisco in 1854 and it contributed as well. Minting ceased in New Orleans with the start of the Civil War but Philadelphia and San Francisco continued until 1866, when the reverse was modified to add "IN GOD WE TRUST". Those made after the Civil War circulated little, being displaced by paper currency, and many were exported to Europe or South America to back currency there. The salvage of the SS Central America added thousands of uncirculated 1856-S and 1857-S $20's to the collector marketplace.
Recorded mintage: 577,670, fairly common for the type.
Specification: 516 grains (33.436 grams), 1 1/3" (34 millimeters) diameter, 90% gold, silver not over 5%, rest copper; reeded edge.
Catalog reference: KM 74.1, Fr-169.
- Alexander, David T., Coin World Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of United States Coins, Sidney, OH: Amos Press, 1995.
- Breen, Walter H., Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins, New York: Doubleday, 1987.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Yeoman, R. S., and Kenneth Bressett (ed.), A Guide Book of United States Coins, 65th Ed., Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, 2011.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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