US St. Gaudens Gold Piece Copy (Counterfeit) 1933This is a replica of a famous St. Gaudens $20 gold double eagle, or $20 piece. For genuine coins, not replicas, more than 400,000 were struck. However, all except 13 coins dated 1933 were melted, and of those 13 only one has been on the market. In fact, Congress has ruled that it is illegal to own a 1933-dated gold piece since President Roosevelt signed an order that it was illegal to own gold that year. Replicas like yours may or may not display the motto In God We Trust, but they contain only a teensy bit of gold plating and are selling for $10 to $20 as a novelty -- a pretty novelty -- but a novelty nevertheless.There are several different patterns used for these 1933 copies, each with subtle differences, and each displaying the COPY inscription. We do not know of any that actually contain gold. They have, instead, a micro-thin gold plating which adds no value to the coin.
