Certified Lady Liberty Gold Coins
Posted by Adam King on January 13, 2010
A recurring image on American coins for most of the years of the Republic was Liberty, portrayed as a woman. This image, consisting of several women, is the personification of the freedoms the United States was founded upon. Lady liberty appears on several gold coins, and certified Lady Liberty gold coins are excellent investments, outperforming gold bullion in difficult economic times.
The most recent Lady Liberty before the 1933 gold confiscation was the Walking Liberty on the Saint Gaudens Double Eagle, and the earliest Lady Liberty gold coins were Half Eagles. On July 31, 1795, the United States Mint produced 744 $5 gold pieces with a bust of Lady Liberty on the obverse and the reverse showing a rather thin eagle standing on an olive branch and clutching a wreath in its beak. Criticism of the weak looking eagle was sufficiently persuasive that the Mint changed the design to a so called heraldic eagle in 1798, although Lady Liberty continued to grace the obverse of the Half Eagle.
Controversy such as that surrounding the so called weakling Half Eagle resulted in a change of design. Ironically, because the Mint used dies until they broke, there were skinny Eagles produced through 1798 and large, heraldic eagles produced in 1795. Today any of these certified Lady Liberty gold coins, especially those from 1798 are extremely valuable.
Over the course of the 19th century, many Lady Liberty gold coins were minted. Although Lady Liberty was always based upon a real female model, the coin was never meant to represent a specific person. It was not until the Lincoln penny in 1909, that an identifiable individual was honored with an American coin.
Because of the unique features of these valuable coins, it is wise to invest only in certified Lady Liberty gold coins in order to assure authenticity, accurate grading, and fair pricing.
Stewart Lawson
Senior Staff Writer – Certified Gold Exchange
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