Double Eagle: The Epic Story of the World’s Most Valuable
Coin by Alison Frankel
This article will review the book titled “Double Eagle –
The Epic Story of the World’s Most Valuable Coin”, by Alison
Frankel. The first thing that is different about this book
is that it is not like most coin books. Most coin books are
reference books. This book is most certainly not a reference
book. This book tells a story. The story of what became the
world’s most valuable coin, at least as I write this.
You might think that a book about a single coin would be the dullest book
around. You would be wrong. This book was an extremely interesting book. If you
are unfamiliar with the story, it will be an educating experience in operations
at the Mint back in the 1930s, the mood of the nation, etc. If you are familiar
with the story, you still might learn a thing or two. It is a story of
deception, intrigue, the Secret Service, the King of Egypt and one person’s
plight for merely trying to sell a coin.
The book begins with some background on Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the designer
of the coin known as the Double Eagle. There is a wealth of information on how
Teddy Roosevelt wanted to change American coinage and how many of the changes
came about. There are of course some references to Charles Barber, who opposed
any outside artists designing American coins. After a period of time, a design
for the Double Eagle was approved, despite the efforts of Barber to thwart such
a design. Unfortunately Saint-Gaudens did not live long enough to see his work
in circulation and in fact died before the final designs were approved.
Skipping ahead to 1933 the book explores the banking crisis at hand in
American and what led to discontinuance of the Gold Standard. This of course is
what led to what everybody believed to be the melting of all 1933 Double Eagles
except the ones for the Smithsonian. Over 400,000 Double Eagles were coined in
1933 with the 1933 date. All, with the exception of a few were melted.
The book covers an enormous amount of detail about the Double Eagles that
ended up outside the Mint. This is fascinating reading. The book provides
details on who had access to the coins and when as well as scenarios on how they
could have left the mint. The book also explores the lineage of several Double
Eagles. It is like reading a Who’s Who of early 20th century collecting. It also
covers how what was believed to be the sole survivor escaped to Egypt.
The book covers the Secret Service and their efforts to retrieve all the
Double Eagles, except the one in Egypt and how all were thought to be recovered.
There is then a 40 year gap of history where the Double Eagle seems to have
vanished.
When the Double Eagle did reappear the book provided great detail on the
sting operation by the Secret Service to recover it as well as the legal actions
taken make it legal tender. This is an absolute fascinating on story. The number
of lives that were affected is staggering. The amount of time and effort into
recovering one single coin is astounding. If you read this book, and this part
in particular, you will begin to wonder about where government resources are
allocated. This is not a statement about whether it was right or wrong, just
something to ponder.
Finally, the book touches on the fact that recently 10 more Double Eagles
were discovered and insinuates that there is still a Double Eagle or two
unaccounted for. I will not go into detail on who had these. You will have to
read the book for that.
Overall, I found this to be a very well written book. Again, this is not your
typical coin reference book. This is a story of what is currently the most
expensive coin ever sold.
I highly recommend this book.
Keith Scott has been a collector for over 30 years. His website has
US coins for sale. He also writes
Coin Collecting Articles for fun. Visit his websites for a history of US coins,
metal market updates and news about your favorite coins.
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