 When Longacre completed the double eagle dies , they were rejected by Peale , who stated that the design was engraved too deeply to fully impress the coin , and the pieces would not stack properly . Taxay , however , noted that the one surviving 1849 double eagle displays no such problems , and by appearance would be level in a stack . Peale complained to Patterson , who wrote to Treasury Secretary William M. Meredith asking for Longacre 's removal on December 25 , 1849 on the ground he could not make proper dies . Patterson that day promised the position to engraver Charles Cushing Wright , effective when Longacre was ousted . Meredith questioned whether a competent replacement could be found ; Patterson assured him that one could . Longacre objected to Patterson that Peale was delaying acceptance of revised double eagle dies , the director did not reply in writing , but met with Longacre , told him the administration had decided to terminate him , and that he should send in his resignation without delay . Longacre , after thinking the matter over , did not do so , but instead went to Washington on February 12 , 1850 to meet with Meredith . He found that the secretary had been lied to about a number of matters . According to Snow , Longacre did not seek retribution , content to be allowed to continue his work in peace . The double eagle went into production in March 1850 , though Patterson complained that the coins did not strike well . The double eagle quickly became the favored way to hold gold , and in the years to come more gold would be struck into double eagles than into all other denominations combined . 
