Welcome to doubleaglebook.com, the internet’s leading site for information about United States twenty dollar gold pieces, or double eagles, struck between 1850 and 1933. This site is the product of many years’ worth of research by Doug Winter, the leading expert in the rare coin industry on United States gold coinage.
The first part of this website, which was first made live in the beginning of 2015, deals with the Liberty Head Type One issues, struck from 1850 through 1866 at the Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco mints. For each coin, there is a host of information, including the following:
Mintage: How many were originally struck?
Strike: What is a specific issue's character of strike? Is it well-struck or weakly-struck? How does your coin compare to the typical example?
Surfaces: Does a specific issue come with a lot of abrasions/marks, or can it be found with relatively blemish-free surfaces?
Luster: Does a specific issue come with good, average, or poor luster, and what sort of texture might it show?
Color: What is the natural color for a specific issue, and how hard is it to locate this issue with its natural appearance?
Eye Appeal: What does the typical example of a specific issue look like, and how hard is it to locate with above-average eye appeal?
Varieties: If known, important die varieties are listed and detailed. This section is a work-in-progress and it will be refined by various experts.
Buying Tips: Doug Winter shares his three decades of experience buying double eagles with collectors, including what grade is the best value, is a date underpriced or overpriced, and more.
Proofs: Where applicable, Proofs are discussed including an estimate of how many known, a discussion of the finest known, and a listing of the auction record for each date.
Hoards: The impact of hoards for each date is discussed and a breakdown, where possible, is given.
Auction Records: For every date, a current auction record is listed. This will be updated annually.
Finest Known: On issues where there is a clear finest known, the coin is discussed and a pedigree is given where possible.
Rarity: How many examples of each date are known, and what is the breakdown by grade (this is listed in Very Fine, Extremely Fine, About Uncirculated, and Mint State). This will be updated annually.
Population Figures: Pertinent PCGS and NGC figures will be given. If these seem inflated due to resubmissions, this will be noted.
Price Performance Since 2002: Each date is analyzed for price increases over a 20+ year period; the date 2002 was selected as this is when the Type One market was jump-started by the publication of Doug Winter’s first book on the series. Two different grades are selected for each issue and compared.
Comments: A closing comment is given for each issue.
This is the first truly interactive book ever published on United States gold coins. Users will be able to make comments about each coin (subject to moderation), and they can add their insights into things such as rarity, relatively unknown specific coins, or incorrect population figures. They will be able to submit photos of high-grade coins for sharing (again, subject to moderation), and connect with other double eagle collectors.Standard books quickly become outdated, but doubleeaglebook.com will be updated on an annual basis with no need for collectors to buy updated books. It will become the “go to” source for information of all double eagles.The Type Two and Type Three series will be added in the future; hopefully within the next year or two.As a reminder, this site is for reference. The coins pictured here are not available for sale. Our retail website can be viewed at: www.RareGoldCoins.com.
For more information, please contact Doug Winter directly via email at dwn@ont.com.