Double eagles were so named because the largest U.S. coin until the
time of the California gold rush was a $10 face value (approximately ½ troy ounce)
gold Eagle. When Congress in 1849 authorized the large $20 gold piece to efficiently
coin the bonanza of gold coming from the California gold fields, it naturally came to
be called the ‘double’ eagle.
Later gold discoveries in Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and Alaska caused
hundreds of millions of ounces of gold to be coined at the U.S. Mints into these large
double eagles. Gold double eagles are the wealth born of the Old West gold mining days.
For the world, the U.S. $20 gold double eagle symbolized the vast riches of the United
States in the second half of the 1800s.
These coins have always represented a lot of money. In 1900, a double
eagle $20 gold coin was more than the average week’s wages for most people.
To demonstrate the purchasing power of a double eagle, imagine a weekend
in New York City in 1900. A night’s stay at the Plaza Hotel cost $1.50, a lunch
of a beer and a sandwich was a nickel, theatre tickets on Broadway might cost you 35c,
and a five-course dinner at the finest restaurant in the city, Delmonico's, would set
you back all of 75 cents. In other words, you would have a hard time spending the whole
twenty dollars while splurging on a first-class weekend in New York!
We bring you affordable, lightly circulated gold money from the era
when a dollar was a dollar. And because these are not flawless, museum-quality specimens,
you can carefully handle and enjoy these gold treasures. Feel free to hold them in your
hand – that’s the feel of real gold, a treasure you can hold and possess
as have only a fortunate for thousands of years…
If you had a stack of these one hundred years ago, you had quite a treasure!
And the same is true today. Although our population has increased, and our national wealth
is higher, there still exists only a limited supply of these old $20 gold pieces – just
as there is a limited supply of gold!
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When you purchase these gold double eagles, your acquisition will resemble
a treasure that was put away generations ago. The historic Liberty Head design (designed
by James B Longacre, who also designed the Flying Eagle and Indian Cents) was last struck
in 1907, so all the coins we offer here are products of the San Francisco and Philadelphia
mints from 1877 to 1907.
Not only do you have a substantial gold value (each double eagle by
law contained .9675 ounces of pure gold), but you also have a direct connection to the
romance of the western gold discoveries, from the ‘49ers in old California to Alaska
in 1898. The gold double eagle is a piece of America’s historic wealth that you
can hold in your hand.
These U.S. double eagles make very welcome gifts. They have a monetary
value, a value in gold, and they hold the power of timelessness. These gold coins come
to us from generations ago, and will become part of your family heritage for generations
in the future.
There is an undeniable magic in the act of handing these old coins over
to your children, grandchildren, and heirs.
As material gifts go, there is no better gift than the gift of gold.
And giving these historic double eagles makes the presentation even more memorable – exciting
for the recipient, and flattering to the giver.
There are power, intrigue, and mystery surrounding these old coins:
Where did this fortune in gold come from? How did these large gold coins
survive all these years? Where were these gold double eagles hidden when gold was called
in, back in 1933? What is the future of this treasure for my family and heirs?
Today, in the 21st Century, you still have the opportunity, at a reasonable
price, to convert part of your own wealth into a permanent and portable gold legacy of
19th century gold coins. |
