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The unique 1849 Liberty Head double eagle pattern, obverse and reverse — this is the actual coin the constituent tracks, held in the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection
The unique 1849 Liberty Head double eagle pattern, obverse and reverse — this is the actual coin the constituent tracks, held in the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection

1849 Liberty Head Double Eagle

Maker
U.S. Mint (Philadelphia)
Year
1849
Rank
56 of 100
Identifier
$20 gold pattern, Liberty Head, unique — held in the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection

1849 Liberty Head Double Eagle

Price-guide value, not a sale: $25,000,000, dated 2026-08-06. This is not a sale. It is what the market was asking, and no transaction is recorded behind it.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The unique first U.S. double eagle and arguably the single most valuable American coin — but it is not for sale.

$20 gold pattern, Liberty Head, unique — held in the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$25,000,000
Kind
Price-guide value, not a sale
Date
2026-08-06

A price-guide value is an editorial estimate, not a transaction. Guides lag the market and smooth over grade and condition. It is useful as a floor for how the trade thought about the object, and it should be checked against a realized sale before anything rests on it.

By reference price, 1849 Liberty Head Double Eagle is number 1 of 100 in the coins entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (56 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08

Track your own

FLOAT is a free tracker. Add the coins you own, keep photos and certificates with each item, and see a value built from real sales at your item's grade. This page is a public reference; it does not offer, price or sell insurance.