🥇 The Great Depression's Most Wanted Coin

1933 Gold Double Eagle: The Most Controversial $20 Coin in American History

Of all the coins ever struck at the United States Mint, none has generated more legal battles, more international intrigue, or more staggering auction prices than the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. Minted during the depths of the Great Depression, ordered destroyed by presidential decree, stolen from the Philadelphia Mint, traced through Egyptian royalty, seized by the Secret Service, and ultimately sold at auction for $18.9 million — the 1933 Double Eagle is not just a coin. It is one of the most dramatic objects in American history.

The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle: America's Most Beautiful Coin

Before diving into the 1933 controversy, it's worth understanding what makes the Double Eagle itself so exceptional. The Saint-Gaudens $20 gold piece — named for its designer, sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens — is widely considered the most beautiful coin ever produced by the United States Mint. President Theodore Roosevelt, who commissioned the design as part of his broader campaign to elevate American coinage to classical artistic standards, personally called it the most beautiful coin struck by any nation in modern times.

The obverse features a striding figure of Liberty holding a torch and olive branch, with the Capitol building visible in the background and rays of the sun spreading behind her. The reverse shows a magnificent eagle in flight against a rising sun. The design was first struck in high relief in 1907, then modified to lower relief for mass production. By 1933, the design had been in continuous production for 26 years — and the coins struck that year would be its final chapter.

FDR, the Gold Recall, and Executive Order 6102

To understand why the 1933 Double Eagles are so extraordinary, you need to understand the economic crisis that surrounded their creation. When 445,500 Double Eagles were struck at the Philadelphia Mint in early 1933, the United States was in the grip of the Great Depression. Bank runs were widespread, gold was being hoarded by frightened citizens, and the fractional reserve banking system was under severe stress.

On April 5, 1933, newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, which made it illegal for U.S. citizens to own gold coins, gold bullion, or gold certificates. The order required Americans to turn their gold holdings over to Federal Reserve Banks at the fixed price of $20.67 per troy ounce. The intent was to prevent gold hoarding, allow the government to expand the money supply, and stabilize a banking system on the verge of collapse.

The 445,500 Double Eagles that had just been struck at Philadelphia were caught directly in the crossfire. None had been officially released into circulation before the executive order was signed. The Mint moved to recall them all and melt them down — a straightforward process of destruction for hundreds of thousands of coins that had technically never left government custody.

Except that somewhere between the striking room and the melting furnace, a small number of coins disappeared.

The Coins That Escaped: Theft from the Philadelphia Mint

The exact mechanism by which 1933 Double Eagles left the Philadelphia Mint without authorization has never been fully established, but the investigation that eventually unraveled the mystery pointed to Israel Switt, a Philadelphia jeweler with connections to Mint employees. Beginning in the 1940s, a handful of 1933 Double Eagles began surfacing in the coin market — coins that should not have existed outside government vaults.

The Secret Service launched investigations over multiple decades. In 1944, when the U.S. government learned that Egypt's King Farouk had applied for an export license for a 1933 Double Eagle — and that the license had been inadvertently granted — they requested its return. The request was ignored. The coin left the country legally, under a government export permit, before officials could act to stop it.

King Farouk was overthrown in a military coup in 1952. His coin collection, including the Double Eagle, disappeared. For decades the coin's whereabouts were unknown — until 1996, when a British coin dealer attempted to sell a 1933 Double Eagle to a collector through a sting operation set up by U.S. Secret Service agents in a New York hotel room. The coin was seized.

The King Farouk Coin: A Legal Battle Resolved at Auction

The seized coin spent years in legal limbo as its ownership was contested between the U.S. government and the estate of the dealer who had attempted to sell it. The eventual resolution was unusual: rather than simply confiscating the coin, the government agreed to a negotiated settlement that resulted in the coin being monetized — given legal tender status of $20 — and offered at public auction, with proceeds split between the government and the dealer's estate.

The Farouk coin sold at Sotheby's in July 2002 for $7,590,020 — at the time the highest price ever paid for a coin at auction. It was purchased by an anonymous buyer and disappeared back into private hands.

In 2021, the same coin appeared at Sotheby's again. This time it sold for $18,872,250 — a new world record for any coin sold at public auction, and a figure that nearly tripled its own previous record price set less than two decades earlier.

The 1933 Double Eagle: A Complete Timeline

How Many 1933 Double Eagles Exist Today?

This question has no definitive answer — and that uncertainty is part of what makes the 1933 Double Eagle so compelling. Here is what is known:

The legal status of all 1933 Double Eagles except the two Smithsonian examples and the single Sotheby's coin is either actively contested or presumptively illegal to own under U.S. law. Any 1933 Double Eagle that surfaces outside a museum context is subject to potential government seizure.

Auction Records: The 1933 Double Eagle's Price History

Collecting Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles: The Legal Alternative

The 1933 issue may be effectively off-limits, but the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle was produced from 1907 through 1932 — and those earlier dates are not only legal to own but represent exceptional collecting and investment opportunities. The series includes several key dates and varieties that serious gold coin collectors actively pursue.

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Frequently Asked Questions: 1933 Gold Double Eagle