United States 1871-S 20 dollars
This specimen was lot 2166 in Jean Elsen sale 160 (Brussels, November 2024), where it sold for €2,100 (about US$2,659 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ETATS-UNIS, AV 20 dollars, 1871 S. Très Beau. (United States, gold twenty dollars of 1871. Very fine.)"
This issue is a fairly common date of a type issued 1850-1907. It was struck in San Francisco. The reverse was modified twice; first in 1867 to add the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" (shown here) and second in 1877 to change "TWENTY D." to "TWENTY DOLLARS". This second type is fairly common in lightly circulated condition but rare choice. The later issues did not circulate at all, spending the decades in various vaults, and are readily available in any grade.
Specification: 33.43 g, 0.900 fine gold, reeded edge.
Recorded mintage: 928,000, a fairly common date.
Catalog reference: Fr-175, KM 74.2.
- 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]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 160, Collection de deniers liegeois et Collection de monnaies d'or francaises, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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