As a regular denomination, the twenty-cent piece had the shortest life of any United States coin — struck for just four years, 1875 through 1878. The obverse uses Christian Gobrecht’s Liberty Seated figure; the reverse, by William Barber, shows a perched eagle much like the one on the Trade dollar. Unlike other silver coins of the era, the edge is plain.
The denomination failed quickly because the public confused it with the quarter dollar of nearly the same size. Most of the production was the 1875-S; by 1877 and 1878 only Proofs were struck for collectors. The great rarity of the series is the 1876-CC, of which fewer than two dozen are believed to survive.
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