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In the depths of the Great Depression, the U.S. government made a bold decision: to remove gold from everyday use and stop the minting of gold coins altogether. It was a drastic move made in desperate times, and as a result, one of the most beautiful and rare coins in American history was nearly lost forever – the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle.
With a face value of just $20, this coin has become one of the most famous and valuable in the world. In 2002, one example sold at auction for a staggering $6.6 million. That sale wasn’t just historic – it marked the dramatic survival of a coin that was never meant to see the light of day.
A Coin Caught in Crisis
The year was 1933, and the United States was in the grip of the Great Depression. Banks were failing, unemployment was soaring, and public confidence in the economy had reached rock bottom. In response, newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented a series of emergency economic measures, including the suspension of the gold standard.
As part of that effort, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, requiring all Americans to turn in their gold coins, bullion, and certificates. The U.S. Mint was ordered to stop producing gold coins and to melt down existing reserves. That included the newly minted 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles – 445,500 of them, to be exact.
None of these coins were officially circulated. Nearly all were destroyed before leaving the Mint. Yet, somehow, a few survived.
The Coins That Escaped
Despite the government’s efforts to eliminate the 1933 Double Eagles, at least 20 coins escaped the melting pot. The origin of their escape remains murky, but all signs point to a Philadelphia jeweler named Israel Switt, who mysteriously ended up with 19 of them.
For decades, the coins floated quietly in the private collecting world until the U.S. Secret Service launched an investigation in the 1940s. The government deemed all surviving 1933 Double Eagles to be stolen property, since they had never been officially released. Most were recovered and destroyed – but a few slipped through the cracks.
One of those coins became the center of a decades-long legal battle that would change numismatic history.
The Record-Breaking Sale
In 2002, after years of negotiations and legal wrangling, the U.S. government reached a landmark agreement with a British coin dealer who had acquired one of the surviving 1933 Double Eagles. The coin would be returned to the government, officially monetized for the first time, and then legally sold at public auction.
The final price? $6.6 million, including a $20 face-value payment to the U.S. Treasury to officially legitimize the coin.
This sale made the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle the most valuable coin ever sold at the time. Since then, its value has only increased. In fact, another specimen sold in 2021 for a record $18.9 million, but the 2002 sale remains iconic as the one that legitimized the coin’s place in private hands.
Beauty Meets Rarity
Designed by famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the Double Eagle is widely regarded as the most beautiful coin in American history. The obverse features a stunning image of Lady Liberty striding forward with a torch and olive branch, while the reverse displays a majestic flying eagle above a rising sun.
But beauty alone isn’t what makes this coin so desirable. It’s the combination of a breathtaking design, extreme rarity, legal drama, and Depression-era history that makes the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle the holy grail of American coinage.
Final Thought
The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is more than just a rare coin – it’s a symbol of a pivotal moment in U.S. history, when the nation chose financial survival over tradition. What was meant to be destroyed became a legendary survivor. And for one lucky owner in 2002, it turned into $6.6 million worth of numismatic history.
From a $20 coin no one was ever supposed to own, to one of the world’s most coveted treasures, the 1933 Double Eagle is proof that sometimes, the rarest finds come from the most unexpected places.