Item number: A1235

Year: AD 1853

Material: Gold

Size: 32.3 x 32.3 mm

Manufactured by: United States Assay Office of Gold

Provenance: Stack’s Bowers 2024

This is a twenty-dollar gold coin minted in AD 1853, during the peak of the California Gold Rush, by the “United States Assay Office of Gold,” a private institution authorised by the federal government.

The coin was issued between March and October of that year, with a mintage of 2.5 million pieces. The obverse features an eagle with its head raised to the right, holding a ribbon inscribed with “LIBERTY” in its beak. The eagle’s chest bears a shield decorated with the Stars and Stripes, and three arrows are clutched in its talons, while its left foot rests on a laurel branch atop a rock. A scroll between the eagle’s wings displays the gold purity as “900 THOUS.” The inscription “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” is engraved along the upper edge, while the denomination “TWENTY D.” appears at the bottom. This twenty-dollar gold coin is also known as the “Double Eagle” in the United States.

The reverse of the coin features a lathe-processed geometric pattern as the background. In the centre, within a rectangular frame, there are four lines of English inscriptions. From top to bottom, the inscriptions read as follows: the minting authority “UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE OF GOLD,” the location “SAN FRANCISCO / CALIFORNIA,” and the year of minting “1853.”

In AD 1848, following the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in California, approximately 300,000 people from across the United States and the world flocked to the region, sparking the California Gold Rush. This influx led to rapid economic growth and development, enabling California to achieve statehood in AD 1850 as part of the Union. Prior to the establishment of a federal mint in San Francisco in AD 1854, the region relied on officially chartered private companies, such as the United States Assay Office of Gold and Moffat & Company, to refine placer gold into valuable coins and ingots.

物件編號: A1235

年代: 公元 1853 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 32.3 x 32.3 mm

製造地: 美國黃金檢驗局

來源: SBP錢幣拍賣 2024

這是一枚公元1853年，時值加州掏金熱高峰，由聯邦政府核准的私人機構「美國黃金檢驗局」鑄造之二十美元金幣，發行時間為當年的3月至10月，發行量達到250萬枚。錢幣正面是一隻向右昂首的老鷹，嘴中叼著一條寫著「LIBERTY」(自由)的緞帶。老鷹胸前是一個星條旗裝飾的盾牌及三枝箭，左腳則踩踏著月桂枝並矗立於岩石上。老鷹翅膀之間有標示黃金純度「900 THOUS」的卷軸。老鷹上緣鐫刻著國名「UNITED STATES OF AMERICA」，下緣則是金幣的面額「TWENTY D.」。二十美元金幣在美國又被稱作「雙鷹幣」。

錢幣背面以車床加工的幾何圖案作為背景，中間的矩形方框內有四行英文銘文，由上而下，分別鐫刻鑄造單位「UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE OF GOLD」(美國黃金檢驗局)，鑄造地點「SAN FRANCISCO / CALIFORNIA」(舊金山加州)和年份「1853」。

公元1848年，隨著加州的沙特鋸木廠發現沙金的消息傳出後，全美和世界各地大約30萬的人大舉湧入加州開啟掏金熱潮。掏金潮促成當地的繁榮發展使其成功於公元1850年升格為聯邦轄下的州。公元1854年，聯邦政府於舊金山設立造幣廠以前，當地仰賴獲得官方特許的私人公司，如「美國黃金檢驗局」和「莫法特公司」將沙金提煉為有價的金幣和金錠。