1933 double eagle: Difference between revisions
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The '''[[1933]] US 20 [[United States dollar|dollar]] gold coin''' ( |
The '''[[1933]] [[United States|US]] 20 [[United States dollar|dollar]] gold coin''' (known as the double eagle) exists only in very small numbers. Over 450,000 were minted, but never officially circulated, because of the end of the use of gold dollars in [[1933]]. US president [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt]] put an end to dollars made of gold, to end the 1930s general bank crisis, by executive order, and with the ''Emergency Bank Relief Act'' (March 1933) and the ''Gold Reserve Act'' (January 1934). The circulation and private possession of US gold was ruled out (with exemption for collector coins). Most of the never officially made public 1933 gold coins were melted down in late 1934--some were destroyed in tests. Only two coins in the US [[National Numismatic Collection]] and a small number of others, which found their way illegally into the hands of collectors, survived. |
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On [[July 30]], [[2002]], a 1933 double eagle was sold at a [[Sotheby]]'s auction for $6.6 million, plus the 15 percent seller's premium, bringing the total price for the coin to $7.59 million -- almost twice the previous record for a coin. The whole auction took less than nine minutes. |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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Revision as of 22:19, 7 March 2004
The 1933 US 20 dollar gold coin (known as the double eagle) exists only in very small numbers. Over 450,000 were minted, but never officially circulated, because of the end of the use of gold dollars in 1933. US president Franklin D. Roosevelt put an end to dollars made of gold, to end the 1930s general bank crisis, by executive order, and with the Emergency Bank Relief Act (March 1933) and the Gold Reserve Act (January 1934). The circulation and private possession of US gold was ruled out (with exemption for collector coins). Most of the never officially made public 1933 gold coins were melted down in late 1934--some were destroyed in tests. Only two coins in the US National Numismatic Collection and a small number of others, which found their way illegally into the hands of collectors, survived.
On July 30, 2002, a 1933 double eagle was sold at a Sotheby's auction for $6.6 million, plus the 15 percent seller's premium, bringing the total price for the coin to $7.59 million -- almost twice the previous record for a coin. The whole auction took less than nine minutes.