I Want To Buy My First My First $20.00 Double Eagle

As it should, buy one at a trusted coin shop, one of the quality folks here, or a coin show

I personally wouldn't buy one raw either. I don't think I would be comfortable buying that expensive a coin on ebay even if it was slabbed. The major online auction houses that mentioned above, a local dealer, or coin show are all good bets. I researched this a little bit recently, and I think you can probably get a nice piece for a couple hundred dollars over melt. Good luck and when you get one, post pictures!

I would not even think about buying one raw.

I don't think I could handle the stress buying a raw or even a slabbed one off of ebay. I'd die with worry.. and that's no fun for anybody. I have found some great prices at some of the larger coin/bullion dealers online. The best deal I found were Double Eagles graded at MS64 by either PCGC or NGC. Average cost was about $1560. Most online dealers selling something like this will also give you a quote in regards to you selling it back to them. The spread , to my surprise, was actually quite narrow.

I am a modest man of modest means who likes keeping his affairs as discrete as possible. I buy an MS 64 slabbed Double Eagle from my LCS and pay with cash. My transaction is private, the LCS owner will want to see me again, and having the coin slabbed would put aside any fears of buying unslabbed raw coins whether it be a local person or someone on the internet.

If you have a local coin store, you can check their reputation on your local Better Business Bureau site.

Start out by looking for a nice 1924 or 1928 Saint MS-64 or 65 only in a PCGS slab. All of my mint state double eagles are PCGS slabbed coins. The plentiful supply of them will allow you to do comparison shopping and they do not go for large amount of money beyond the value of their gold content. Look carefully for carbon or copper spots and avoid those coins. Also avoid reddish spots on them as well. Look for good, strong satiny luster and nice, even toning, especially look for the "orange peel" color of toning. It is a hallmark of a double eagle that has not been dipped or chemically treated. Most of them gained their nice color sitting in vaults of European banks for the past few decades.
Also consider buying Q David Bowers guide book on Double Eagles. It is the bible on double eagle collecting, IMO.
Above all, do NOT buy raw and don't rush into buying one. There are tons of 1924 and 1928 coins from which to choose. Start with a local coin dealer or coin show, and not online. If you do buy online from a reputable dealer, look at good pictures first and make sure you can send it back if not saisfied with the coin...no questions asked.
Glad to hear you are considering hopping into them. Trust me, one won't be enough. I'll even throw an idea at you. Start working on a Roaring Twenties common coin date set...1920, 1922, 1923-D, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1928.
Where one begins, another one ends. I am soon looking to close off my collection with a nice circulated 1860's no motto in a PCGS or NGC holder. Probably an 1861 or an S mint from 1861-1865.
The kingpin of the collection is an original surface, XF-40 1852-O. Took me 4 years to find one I liked.

And as you move up into more expensive and tougher date gold coins, there is Douglas Winter and Kagain's they are both very respected gold dealers, that have been in business a long time, I have a good personal relationship with Kagin's as Art Kagin was one of my first mentors in the coin business, his son David is very knowledgable especially when it comes to the territorial stuff. Dug writes for several coin publications and has written quite a few books on gold coins. His website always has some tasty coins on it! http://raregoldcoins.com I agree with others comments on getting your first coins slabbed as you are a novice to buying them, and there are some really good and deceiving fakes in the marketplace. But if you are buying from an established dealer you should not worry much.

Ambro51 has as a very good point.