***Auction Highlight*** 1850-p Gold Liberty Double Eagle $20 Graded AU Details By USCG. The 1850 is the first regular issue double eagle from the Philadelphia Mint. (The unique Proof 1849 in the National Numismatic Collections at the Smithsonian Institution is a pattern.) This denomination, the highest that the United States Mint has ever produced for circulation, was authorized by the Act of March 3, 1849, to serve as a storehouse and convenient medium of exchange for the vast quantities of gold discovered and mined during the California Gold Rush. Indeed, during the earliest years of the double eagle series unprecedented quantities of gold were shipped from California to the eastern United States to be minted into coins at the Philadelphia and, to a lesser extent, New Orleans mints. Using the Liberty Head design by Chief Engraver James Barton Longacre, the Philadelphia Mint produced 1,170,261 circulation strike double eagles in 1850. This issue saw extensive commercial use with worn survivors in grades such as VF and EF the most common encountered. AU survivors are scarce..