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A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. The first double eagle, known as the Liberty Head, was minted from 1849, coinciding with the California Gold Rush. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt asked artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens to produce a new coin in an effort to beautify American coinage. The new coin became known as the Saint-Gaudens, and was produced until 1933. The 1933 double eagle is among the most valuable of U.S. coins, with the sole example currently known to be in private hands selling in 2002 for $7,590,020.
The coin pictured is an 1866 Liberty Head.
See other double eagle coins: 1849 Liberty Head; 1877 Liberty Head; 1907 Saint Gaudens (Roman, high relief; Roman, ultra high relief, wire edge; Arabic; Arabic and motto; edge detail); 1933 Saint GaudensCoins: U.S. Mint, National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History.