Specific Year $20 Eagles

The Double Eagle gold coin was authorised by the Coinage Act of 1849, and production coincided with the notable California Gold Rush. The coin bore the Eagle and the Liberty Head like the smaller iterations until 1907. At this point President Roosevelt wanted to revitalise the imagery of US coinage.

Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens was nominated for his artistic flair, but the process took longer than expected due to poor health and a complicated high-relief design. Saint-Gaudens completed the work but died before the first of his coins were minted.
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Designs & Years:

• Liberty Head Eagle: 1849 - 1907
• Saint-Gaudens Eagle: 1907 - 1933

There were subtle differences between each of the two designs, with three variations apiece. The Liberty Head initially had no motto until 1866. Until 1876 it bore a motto and listed the face value as TWENTY D, before a final tweak listed TWENTY DOLLARS until the design changed in 1907.

Saint-Gaudens' design was initially high relief and used Roman numerals, while offering no motto. This lasted for one year - 1907 - before the US Mint switched to the easier low-relief style. They also switched to the easier-to-read Arabic numerals, though they stuck with no motto again during 1908. One final change introduced the motto in 1908, which lasted until production ended in 1933.