By Samuel Gonzalez
19 Oct 2024, 16:40 PM EDT
Can you imagine having a $20 coin that is worth almost $19 million dollars today? You may be the owner of this piece without knowing it. There are antique coins, like the $20 1933 Double Eagle, that are worth millions on the numismatic market. Here we tell you what its characteristics are so that you can start reviewing the coins you have saved.
Smitsonian magazine announced that A 1933 $20 coin was auctioned in 2021 for $18.9 million.
The 1933 $20 coin, known as the Double Eagle, It is one of the few pieces that are goldhence its value is magnified, compared to other ancient coins that are made of nickel and other less ostentatious metals.
On one of the faces, The coin has the representation of Liberty standingholding a torch in his left hand, an olive branch in the right and 46 stars around him and the Capitol building in the lower left corner. It also bears the legends “LIBERTY” and “1933”.
On the reverse of the coin, you will see an eagle flying over the rays of the sun below the legends UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” (United States of America) and “TWENTY DOLLARS” (Twenty dollars) at the top and “IN GOD WE TRUST” at the bottom.
Why is the 1933 Double Eagle coin worth so much?
Beyond its value in gold, the currency has an exorbitant price, especially, for the historical period in which it was minted and all the time it has survivedwhen the most common thing would have been its detention, according to numismatic experts.
In 1933, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order prohibiting private ownership of gold, forcing the country’s residents to hand over their gold coins and exchange them for other coins, so by the end of the year the double eagles were no longer in circulation.
In addition to stopping circulation, many people chose to melt their coins to keep the gold.
Currently, only one of these coins can be legally owned by an individual in the United States; while two more specimens belong to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
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