page_title: Double eagle
section_title: Quintuple Stella
hierarchical_section_title: Double eagle / Quintuple Stella
caption_attribution_description: English: 1879-G$20-Quintuple Stella Pattern JN2015-6864-65
context_page_description: A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. The coins are made from a 90% gold and 10% copper alloy and have a total weight of 1.0750 troy ounces.
  The "eagle", "half eagle", and "quarter eagle" were specifically given these names in the Act of Congress that originally authorized them. Likewise, the double eagle was specifically created as such by name in the Coinage Act of 1849. Prior to 1850, eagles with a denomination of $10 were the largest denomination of US coin. The $10 eagles were produced beginning in 1795, just two years after the first U.S. mint opened. Since the $20 gold piece had twice the value of the eagle, these coins were designated "double eagles".
  The first double eagle was minted in 1849, coinciding with the California Gold Rush. In that year, the mint produced two pieces in proof. The first resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. The second was presented to Treasury Secretary William M. Meredith and was later sold as part of his estate—the present location of this coin remains unknown.
context_section_description: In response to international monetary conferences held in Europe, the United States Mint struck patterns of various gold coins for use as an international currency in the late 1870s and early 1880s.  The double eagle was one such coin, struck with a modified Liberty Head design featuring "★30★G★1.5★S★3.5★C★35★G★R★A★M★S★" on the obverse in 1879, similar to the Stella pattern.  Five of the resulting "Quintuple Stella" coins are known to exist in gold, plus about a dozen in copper, some of which have been plated in gold.  The period in the "3.5" was omitted in error on the first copper coin struck.
caption: Quintuple Stella pattern
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "12101", "Image ImageLength": "6156", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2015:08:30 23:21:54", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "406", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5375", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "9337", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4750"}