By Khalida Sarwari
A historic U.S. Double Eagle gold coin will not be showcased at the Santa Clara Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo as was scheduled today, the coin’s owner said this afternoon.
Bob Higgins said plans to bring the coin, insured for $5 million, from Wilmington, Del., with his son were scrapped when his son recently became ill and could not travel.
Higgins took the trip alone with his $15 million collection, but left the Double Eagle coin behind due to limitations imposed by his insurance company on the amount of material he could take with him.
Both Higgins and his son, of Certified Assets Management, are professional coin collectors. Higgins started collecting coins as a hobby when he was 15 and now collects and exhibits his coins for a living along with his four sons.
He bought the Double Eagle coin in August 2007.
“I bought it on a whim, I was bored,” he said. “When I saw it in the showcase, I kind of met an old friend.”
The $20 coin was designed in 1907 by renowned sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt. Collectors recognize the coin as the 1907 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle.
The front of the coin features a design of Miss Liberty in a flowing gown holding a wreath in one hand and a torch in the other. A soaring eagle adorns the back of the coin.
“I feel horrible that I couldn’t get it here,” Higgins said. “But there are a lot of other great coins for people to see that they’ve never seen before.”
The expo is taking place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today; from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Santa Clara Convention Center at 5001 Great America Parkway.