$20 US GOLD LIBERTY TYPE 2 XF

James B. Longacre was responsible for the design of the $20 Liberty Gold Coin. The obverse of the gold coin features Lady Liberty donning a crown inscribed with the word ‘LIBERTY’. She is encircled by thirteen stars representing the original 13 colonies and the date encircle her. The reverse features a bald eagle behind a striped shield with the words ‘UNITED STATES OF AMERICA’ arched across the top of the coin. 

The reverse of the famous $20 Liberty was modified in 1866 with the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" placed within the circle of stars above the eagle. This design change created the 'TYPE 2' Liberty Double Eagle, and the motto was continued from that point on.

Type 2 Liberty Double Eagles were minted from 1866-1876 and were the first United States coins designed to carry the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST". Production was continuous at the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints, with Carson City coins produced beginning in 1870. Type 2 coins are the shortest series, and thus the rarest of all $20 Gold Liberties.

As a result of the Gold Confiscation Act of 1933, it is estimated that over 95% of all Type II coins minted were melted down - a high destruction rate for a post-1850 series, making premium quality, almost uncirculated, and uncirculated Type II Liberty Double Eagles even harder to find.