United States 1914-D 20 dollars
This specimen was lot 1707 in Jean Elsen sale 165 (Brussels, June 2026), where it sold for €3,000 (about US$4,131 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ÉTATS-UNIS, AV 20 dollars, 1914 D. Nettoyé. Très Beau. (United States, gold twenty dollars of 1914. Very Fine.)"
After many decades, the Liberty Head double eagle was retired in 1907 for St. Gaudens' design featuring a striding Liberty holding a torch. The first issue was in high relief with a Roman numeral date. The mint objected to the effort required to make these, and the coin was redesigned in lower relief with a conventional Arabic numeral date. The design was modified again in 1908 to add "IN GOD WE TRUST" to the reverse and struck in that form until 1933. This is a product of the Denver mint, which struck this type 1908-11, 1913-14, 1923-27 and 1931.
Recorded mintage: 453,000.
Specification: 33.43 g, 0.900 fine gold, 34 mm diameter, .483 troy oz AGW, lettered edge, designed by Augustus St. Gaudens.
Catalog reference: KM 131, Fr-187.
- 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, 1901-2000, 47th 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 165, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2026.
Link to: