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Friday, 23rd May 2008 (1954 views)

A collection of US Double Eagle gold coins worth $6.5 million (£3.27 million) have gone on show in Long Beach, California, according to reports.

The Press Telegram states that the coins, which were originally minted with face values of $20, date from between 1850 and 1907.

They are among a variety of rare currency, stamps, antique jewellery and historic documents included in the Long Beach Coin, Stamp and Collectibles Expo at the Long Beach Convention Centre, the newspaper adds.

Double Eagle coins were first minted in the United States in 1849, the year that also saw the start of the California Gold Rush. The very first Double Eagle coin to be produced still resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

Regular production of the coins began a year later and continued until 1933.

Up until 1907, Double Eagles featured a design of Lady Liberty. This changed, however, when President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned Irish-born sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens to redesign America's coinage.

 

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