IRVINE, Calif. (February 12, 2014) — The latest book by acclaimed author and noted numismatist Q. David Bowers, U.S. Liberty Head $20 Double Eagles: The Gilded Age of Coinage, is now available. With a list price of $49.95, the hardbound, 376-page edition is being offered for at a special preview price of $35 (plus $10 shipping and handling) until May 1.
The book examines United States history and finance during the 60-year period of 1848–1907, when the new $20 gold coin was designed and introduced in America. Beginning with the California Gold Rush, great quantities of newly discovered gold gave rise to the need for a larger denomination gold coin that would be efficient to mint and use in commerce. The image of “Liberty” was placed on the obverse, with a symbolic eagle on the reverse.
The recommendation to “follow the money” in order to understand the larger context of events applies very directly in the case of the double eagle. In this book, Bowers joins with corporate attorney and economics researcher Robert J. Galiette to take the reader chapter by chapter and year by year through the history of the Liberty Head $20 gold coins. From the Gold Rush in California through industrialization in the 1850s, the American Civil War and the rapid development of the American economy which followed through to the early 20th century, the double eagle was the right coin for the time, and became the world’s standard.
For more than half a century in American history, the gold $20 double eagle financed and developed inventions in transportation, telecommunications, electricity, manufacturing and science, while supporting an economy in which immigrants from around the world contributed their energies to build a nation. This fascinating and entertaining book will take the reader on a journey through these years of change and growth, while focusing on numismatics, as well as history and culture.
To order a copy at the early preview price of $35, contact Jen Meers at JMeers@StacksBowers.com or by phone at 866-811-1804. The special preview price offer expires May 1, 2014.
About Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Stack’s Bowers Galleries conducts live, Internet and specialized auctions of rare U.S. and world coins and currency and ancient coins, as well as direct sales through retail and wholesale channels. The company’s 80-year legacy includes the cataloging and sale of many of the most valuable United States coin and currency collections to ever cross an auction block — The John J. Ford, Jr., The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collections, The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, The Norweb Collection, The Cardinal Collection and The Battle Born Collection — to name just a few. World coin and currency collections include The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins, The Kroisos Collection, The Alicia and Sidney Belzberg Collection, The Wa She Wong Collection, The Guia Collection, The Thos. H. Law Collection, and The Robert O. Ebert Collection.
Topping off this amazing numismatic history is the inclusion of the world record for the highest price ever realized at auction for a rare coin, the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar graded Specimen-66 (PCGS) that realized over $10 million, part of their sale of the famed Cardinal Collection. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, with offices in New York, Wolfeboro, Hong Kong, and Paris. Stack’s Bowers Galleries is the Official Auctioneer for several important numismatic conventions, including American Numismatic Association events, the New York International Numismatic Convention, the Professional Numismatists Guild New York Invitational, the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Spring, Summer and Winter Expos, and our April and August Hong Kong Auctions.
