This article is an accompaniment to our article on investment strategies in the United States $20 St. Gaudens gold coins series.  It outlines a similar strategy of compiling diverse date varieties of $20 Liberty gold coins at little to no additional premium to acquisitions of common dated coinage.  As with the $20 St. Gaudens, investors are often surprised to learn that substantive variety and scarcity can be folded into a position of $20 Liberties affordably and with relative ease, enhancing both the marketability and long-term investment potential of a core bullion-type historic gold coin portfolio.

United States $20 Liberty gold coins were minted from 1850-1907.  They went through two minor design changes, the first in 1866 adding ‘In God We Trust’ to the reverse (thus 1850-1866 dated coins referred to as ‘Type I’) and then in 1877 changing the reverse again from ‘Twenty D.’ to ‘Twenty Dollars’ (coins dated 1866-1876 referred to as 'Type II' and coins minted from 1877 forward referred to as 'Type III').  The obverse of the Liberty coin features the bust of Lady Liberty facing left surrounded by 13 stars to depict the original colonies, with a heraldic eagle on the reverse.  The eagle holds a shield to convey the protection of our nation, with an olive branch and a bundle of arrows in each talon.  Coins were minted primarily at the Philadelphia and San Francisco mints, though a far smaller number of coins were minted in both Carson City and New Orleans as well.  Speaking generally, ‘CC’ and ‘O’ mint $20’s are very scarce, and therefore won’t be covered in greater detail in this article.  

Like our previous piece on $20 St. Gaudens, this article centers on achieving accessible, affordable scarcity in the $20 Liberty series at little to no extra cost to common dated coinage.  

In similar fashion to the $20 St. Gaudens, $20 Liberties have 'common dates'.  In the series, the 1900 and the 1904 dated coins are by far and away the most common.  Any graded $20 Liberties not date specified will typically be one of those two dates.  Occasionally, 1907’s will also show up in common date groupings.  Past common dates, any date specific coins in higher uncirculated grade (MS63 and higher) can get to be expensive in a hurry.  However, what’s interesting about the $20 Liberty series is how inexpensive coins typically are in slightly lower grades.  Stemming from the reality that $20 Liberties were actively used in daily commerce, especially prior to 1900, survival rates in high uncirculated grades (MS63 or higher for example), are much lower when compared to $20 St. Gaudens in the same grade.  However, generally speaking, far more coins overall were also struck on a year to year basis.  So, when moving just slightly lower in grade, MS62 and lower for example, a whole world of date diversity, scarcity, and historical significance reveals itself at comparable acquisition costs to higher grade, common dated alternatives.

Except for the 1886 (of which only a handful are known to exist in total), there is an accessible/affordable option for literally every single year $20 Liberties were minted, spanning the entirety of the $20 Liberty series from 1850-1907.  Deploying a similar strategy to ‘The 30’ in the $20 St. Gaudens series, date compilations in varying grades can all be acquired for an average per coin price less than accumulating the same number of common dated MS64 $20 Liberties, despite significantly lower overall populations and survival rates (despite being in lower grade).  Rather than list and compare the population/known better statistics with a very specific date grouping in mind as we did for 'The 30', achieving the desired result in date runs of $20 Liberties is a bit more fluid, with one general guideline: 

Each decade move roughly one grade level lower…

So, a client building an investment collection/date run of $20 Liberties would roughly target coins in the following grades:

1900-1907 in MS63 - MS64

1890-1899 in MS62 - MS63

1880-1889 in MS60 - MS62

1870-1879 in AU55 - MS61

1860-1869 in AU50 - AU58

1850-1859 in XF45 - AU55

Within each decade, coins could/would be acquired in either slightly higher or slightly lower condition within the date range to achieve the desired price point while still targeting the best possible grade and value.  Some years would be represented by coins minted in Philadelphia, some in San Francisco, and in some years, options from both mints are comparably priced and available.  And, to emphasize the point - just as is the case with the mint-marked and better dated $20 St. Gaudens in MS63, Liberties from the 1890’s in MS62 - MS63 are far scarcer overall, both in terms of individual populations as well as quantities known better, than either 1900 and 1904 dated $20 Liberties are in higher grade (MS64).  The same is true for Liberties the 1880’s in MS60 - MS62, and so on.  Past the added scarcity, what’s even more striking to clients is the overall ‘achievability’ of this project.  Fifty-seven coins in total, and with a little patience, all can be fairly easily acquired.  And once again, for comparable total pricing to acquiring the same number of common dated MS64 $20 Liberties - roughly $3500/coin on average, or $200,000 total for a complete 'date run' (except the 1886 of course). 

One of a few different things.  We have several clients who have, or are in the process of compiling complete fifty-seven coin date runs (Every date 1850-1907 except for the 1886).  For smaller projects, we have clients taking positions in complete sets of Type III coins - so all coins dated 1877-1907 (once again except for the 1886) - another 30 coin set and a worthy companion to ‘The 30’.  For even more manageable projects, we have clients focused on just single decades.  Ten coin pre-1900 date runs, for example.  In all instances, clients are adding scarcity, rarity, investment potential, historical significance and future marketability to a gold investment portfolio that still tracks the spot price of gold directly.

Final Thought

Whether it’s compiling a complete date run, or a pick and choose strategy surrounding specific decades - all present a compelling opportunity to add historical significance, scarcity, and investment potential to a gold portfolio at an opportune time, under opportune market conditions.  As with the $20 St. Gaudens series, investment collections of $20 Liberties are arguably one of the most undervalued areas of the entire gold market - if not the most undervalued.   Complete sets are typically assembled utilizing both PCGS and NGC grading services, and typically accumulated over the course of roughly a year as coins come available.  That said, decade long date runs, especially in the Type III years, can be compiled quickly and fairly easily.  Accumulations tend to get a bit slower and more difficult as we tackle coins from the Civil War era and the first years of issue.  Though all said, with a little patience, complete date runs, Type sets and broad date varieties are all imminently achievable over reasonable time frames.