Pre-33 Gold Coinage
Gold LIberty Series
Liberty Head gold coins represent more than a century of classic American gold coinage, spanning denominations from the Quarter Eagle to the $20 Double Eagle. Struck at both Philadelphia and historic branch mints, these coins connect collectors to defining eras of American growth, commerce, and westward expansion.
About The Collection
For more than a century, Liberty was the defining image of American gold coinage. The Coinage Act of 1792 established the nation’s first gold denominations—the $2.50 Quarter Eagle, $5 Half Eagle and $10 Eagle—and required U.S. coins to carry an image emblematic of Liberty. As the young nation grew, so did its gold coinage, with changing portraits of Liberty reflecting different eras of American history. Among the most enduring was Christian Gobrecht’s Liberty Head, or Coronet, design, introduced on the $10 Eagle in 1838, followed by the $5 Half Eagle in 1839 and $2.50 Quarter Eagle in 1840. Following the California Gold Rush, the $20 Double Eagle was introduced in 1849, giving the United States its largest circulating gold denomination.
Struck primarily in 90% gold, these coins were genuine money, circulating in American commerce during periods that included westward expansion, the California Gold Rush, the Civil War and America's emergence as an industrial power. Liberty gold coins were produced not only in Philadelphia, but at historic branch mints including New Orleans, Charlotte, Dahlonega, Carson City and San Francisco, creating an extraordinary range of dates, mintmarks and rarities for today's collectors. By the early 20th century, the traditional Liberty designs gave way to a new generation of American gold coinage, including the Indian Head and Saint-Gaudens designs, before circulating U.S. gold coinage ultimately ended in 1933. Today, surviving Liberty gold coins are prized not simply for their precious-metal content, but as tangible artifacts from more than a century of American history.
