Golden Grail

Few U.S. coins are rarer than the never circulated 1933 double eagle, melted down after the nation dropped the gold standard

  • By Owen Edwards
  • Smithsonian magazine, June 2008, Subscribe
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double eagle coin front
President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned the double eagle in 1905. He later pronounced the gold piece to be “the best coin that has been struck for 2,000 years.” (Tom Mulvaney / NMAH, SI)

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Double Eagle: The Epic Story of the World’s Most Valuable Coin

by Alison Frankel
W.W. Norton, 2006

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These days, with the mighty greenback looking green at the gills and the euro laughing all the way to the bank, even our once-durable coinage is under assault. Critics are calling for the extinction of the penny; although Thomas Jefferson still graces the nickel, his portrait has been reworked; and quarters come in 50 flavors. And whatever happened to the half dollar? What's worse, nobody seems to care about the aesthetics of pocket change.

There was a time when coins were small masterpieces crafted by artists, when no less a personage than President Theodore Roosevelt took an interest in their design. Two almost impossibly rare gold pieces in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) testify to TR's quest for numismatic glory.

In the early 1900s, the president decided that the $20 double eagle (fashioned after the $10 coin bearing the image of our national bird), in circulation since the mid-19th century, needed a face-lift. To do the job, he called on America's preeminent sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who had designed TR's 1905 inaugural medal.

Although Saint-Gaudens was terminally ill—he would die of cancer in August 1907—the sculptor created what many consider to be the most beautiful coin this country ever minted. One side depicts an eagle in flight; on the obverse, the figure of Liberty strides forward, torch in one hand and olive branch in the other, her hair streaming behind her. The model was Harriette Eugenia Anderson, a young woman originally from South Carolina; Saint-Gaudens described her as "certainly the handsomest model I have ever seen of either sex."

The new double eagle, introduced in 1907, was coin of the realm for the next 16 years, until Teddy's cousin, President Franklin Roosevelt, moved the country off the gold standard in 1933. Gold coins of all denominations were ordered exchanged for paper currency. (Collectors were exempted from the law, a loophole that has resulted in any number of lawsuits.)

At the nation's Mints in 1933, gold coins were melted down and converted into ingots. According to Alison Frankel, author of Double Eagle: The Epic Story of the World's Most Valuable Coin, George McCann, a laborer at the Philadephia Mint, seems to have succumbed to a temptation—just as the last of the uncirculated 1933 double eagles were headed to the melting chamber. "There are many instances," says Frankel, "of people pocketing coins that are about to become rare."

Only nine days later, after 2,000-degree fires had turned most of Saint-Gaudens' masterpieces into mush, a Philadelphia jeweler, Izzy Switt, would sell one double eagle, almost certainly obtained from McCann, to a coin collector.

Because 1933 double eagles were never circulated and were thought to have all been melted down, collectors view the handful in existence as the most numinous of numismatic treasure. Mystery continues to surround them. "We don't know how many survived," says Richard Doty, an NMAH curator.


These days, with the mighty greenback looking green at the gills and the euro laughing all the way to the bank, even our once-durable coinage is under assault. Critics are calling for the extinction of the penny; although Thomas Jefferson still graces the nickel, his portrait has been reworked; and quarters come in 50 flavors. And whatever happened to the half dollar? What's worse, nobody seems to care about the aesthetics of pocket change.

There was a time when coins were small masterpieces crafted by artists, when no less a personage than President Theodore Roosevelt took an interest in their design. Two almost impossibly rare gold pieces in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) testify to TR's quest for numismatic glory.

In the early 1900s, the president decided that the $20 double eagle (fashioned after the $10 coin bearing the image of our national bird), in circulation since the mid-19th century, needed a face-lift. To do the job, he called on America's preeminent sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who had designed TR's 1905 inaugural medal.

Although Saint-Gaudens was terminally ill—he would die of cancer in August 1907—the sculptor created what many consider to be the most beautiful coin this country ever minted. One side depicts an eagle in flight; on the obverse, the figure of Liberty strides forward, torch in one hand and olive branch in the other, her hair streaming behind her. The model was Harriette Eugenia Anderson, a young woman originally from South Carolina; Saint-Gaudens described her as "certainly the handsomest model I have ever seen of either sex."

The new double eagle, introduced in 1907, was coin of the realm for the next 16 years, until Teddy's cousin, President Franklin Roosevelt, moved the country off the gold standard in 1933. Gold coins of all denominations were ordered exchanged for paper currency. (Collectors were exempted from the law, a loophole that has resulted in any number of lawsuits.)

At the nation's Mints in 1933, gold coins were melted down and converted into ingots. According to Alison Frankel, author of Double Eagle: The Epic Story of the World's Most Valuable Coin, George McCann, a laborer at the Philadephia Mint, seems to have succumbed to a temptation—just as the last of the uncirculated 1933 double eagles were headed to the melting chamber. "There are many instances," says Frankel, "of people pocketing coins that are about to become rare."

Only nine days later, after 2,000-degree fires had turned most of Saint-Gaudens' masterpieces into mush, a Philadelphia jeweler, Izzy Switt, would sell one double eagle, almost certainly obtained from McCann, to a coin collector.

Because 1933 double eagles were never circulated and were thought to have all been melted down, collectors view the handful in existence as the most numinous of numismatic treasure. Mystery continues to surround them. "We don't know how many survived," says Richard Doty, an NMAH curator.

According to Doty, the Smithsonian received its pair of 1933 double eagles in 1934. The federal government donated the gold pieces, Doty says, as "coins of record." (NMAH holdings contain examples of virtually every form of coinage produced by the U.S. Mint.)

Another 1933 double eagle to escape destruction owes its existence to Egypt's King Farouk. A passionate coin collector, Farouk somehow arranged for a double eagle to be shipped to Cairo only days before Secret Service agents began rounding up all unsurrendered gold coins. After Farouk was overthrown in 1952, his extensive collections were auctioned. One lot contained his double eagle; the United States demanded that it be returned. Though the Egyptians removed the coin from auction, it disappeared for many years.

In the mid-1990s, a 1933 double eagle—in all likelihood Farouk's—turned up in the hands of British coin dealer Roger Fenton. After a convoluted legal battle, it was auctioned at Sotheby's for $7.59 million in 2002. (Fenton and the U.S. government split the proceeds.)

At the time, this coin and the Smithsonian's pair were thought to be the only 1933 double eagles. But then, in August 2005, says Doty, "ten more surfaced." The owner: none other than Philadelphia jeweler Izzy Switt's daughter. The federal government wants those coins back. Lawsuits are pending. "I've seen all ten at an exhibition in Denver," Doty says. "For collectors, it was a religious experience."

Owen Edwards is a freelance writer and author of the book Elegant Solutions.


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Comments (7)

I was viewing the Augustus Saint Guadens double eagle gold coin and wondering if you could tell me more about it. I'm inquiring about the 1907 double eagle gold coin. How much could that coin be worth? How many were made?

Posted by Deborah on August 9,2010 | 10:17 PM

hello a friend of mines who's grandfather died years ago gave her a paper note before he died,she was the oldest child but still a kid.It's a $1,000 note with six presidents on it.She sent me a copy of it on my computer.We know it's real, would like to know the value of it.Its been preserved and is in good condition.If you would like to see it I can E-mail a picture it to you.thank you very much.

Posted by lonnie finch on June 10,2010 | 11:05 AM

Dear Sir/Madam

At the end of 2006 I took the part of Augustus Saint-Gaudens in a Fulcrum TV production of 'The Double Eagle Mystery' and I understand the film was commissioned by the Smithsonian Channel.

I wondered if the film was actually aired on TV & if so is it possible to acquire a copy of the DVD?

Kind Regards

John Dickin

Posted by John Dickin on January 21,2010 | 01:26 PM

I bought the Liberty Quarter eagle which holds the distinction of keeping the same design for the longest time in American history for gold coins.

http://www.goldcoinsgain.com/Liberty-Quarter-Eagle-MS-64/

Posted by Liberty Quarter Eagle on January 14,2010 | 05:41 AM

Gloria, only 5 1933 quarters are known so you should keep yours. the reason there is only 5 is that the mint wanted to commemratate george washingtons 200th birthday. so they stopped making standing liberty quarters and started making washington. but with the deppression they held off fro a year in 1932 and started making them in 1934. its just like the 1913 v nickel ( 5 made by a drunk guy in the mint the buffalo nickel started in 1913) in the smithsonian institute. also there is the 1959 wheat cent (they stopped making them in 1958 and made the memorial.) and finally the last 2, the 1933 double eagle only 13 known only 1 has ever sold and it sold for like 7,550,000$ the highest ever paid for a singl coin. and last but not least the 1976 s ike they made them in clad that year but there a silver ones out there so i hope i answered your question Gloria.

Posted by Todd on October 18,2009 | 08:21 PM

Hi: Im trying to find out the value of pottery called devon ware, made in England in the last century

Posted by Brenton Martlin on September 9,2008 | 01:33 PM

I am trying to find out the value of a 1933 qurater. The quarter dollar is silver and it's not in mint condition. If someone can please respond and possibly give me some information I would greatful. Thank You, Gloria Mccullough

Posted by Gloria Mccullough on July 27,2008 | 09:22 AM



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