Rare 1866 Double Eagle gold $20 proof coin
The auction of a rare 1866 Double Eagle gold $20 proof coin, stamped with “In God We Trust,” fetched well over the estimated sale price of $300,000. A woman who belonged to the Grace Point church donated the coin recently as officials there faced a financing deadline for a building project.The rare 1866 Double Eagle $20 gold coin was the first to bear the “In God we trust” inscription on the reverse.
According to United States Mint records, only 30 proof Liberty double eagles were struck in 1866. Today we can track only ten known surviving specimens, and three of them are part of permanent collections, including one in The Smithsonian Institution. The In God We Trust motto first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864, starting with copper two-cent denomination coins, and was used on $20 denomination gold coins starting in 1866.
The coin was authenticated as genuine in 1992 and graded Proof 65 (on a scale of 1 to 70) by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, one of the world’s largest rare coin authentication companies. The back of the 1992 plastic holder has a scratch, but the pristine surface of the 1866 coin inside is unaffected.
The final bid came in online, after officials said bidding was so intense, amounts were going up in $20,000 increments. The buyer has not been disclosed.
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