Only one 1849 $20 double eagle is known to exist today. Considered to be the most desirable and valuable of United States coins, the specimen is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Any 1849 $20 gold coin should be viewed as suspect until it is vetted by a coin expert. Right now every other 1849 double eagle is a copy or replica besides the one held by the Smithsonian.

Images provided by the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Stack's Bowers Galleries does not own any rights to the images shown and all attribution is given to the National Numismatic Collection.