Object Details
- mint
- U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
- designer
- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
- Description
- United States Mint, Philadelphia. Production of gold coinage was halted early in 1933 as the United States continued to move away from the gold standard. All double eagles struck in 1933 were not issued or authorized to be released to the public. Instead, they were supposed to be melted down and conveyed as bullion to Fort Knox. But all of the coins were not melted down. A handful were spirited away and kept in hiding for decades. One double eagle dated 1933 surfaced recently, and a complicated arrangement monetized it so that it could be sold at auction for millions of dollars.
- This coin and another 1933 double eagle transferred from the U.S. Mint to the Smithsonian were the only legally owned with that date until recently.
- The 1933 double eagle marks the end of the era in which the U.S. Congress authorized circulating gold coinage.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Mint
- 1933
- ID Number
- NU.39166.0001
- accession number
- 130752
- catalog number
- 39166.0001
- Object Name
- coin
- Physical Description
- gold (overall metal)
- 0 (overall die axis)
- 0 (overall die axis measurement)
- struck (overall production method)
- Measurements
- overall: 34.1 mm; 1 11/32 in
- place of issue
- United States
- Related Publication
- Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
- Related Web Publication
- http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
- United States Double Eagle
- Coins, Currency and Medals
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1090309
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-27c2-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
