The 2017 film "A Dog's Purpose", is a fantasy film about a dog who is reincarnated several times with different human owners. The longest segment is about the dog Bailey and the boy Ethan. Ethan's father owns a small but valuable coin collection and the dog swallows the most valuable coin, a "1907 St. Gaudens Golden Eagle." An prop coin is used as the coin and in this case a prop would be required by the journey the coin makes. The film has five stories about five incarnations of the dog, who narrates each segment. The second and fifth segments are connected while segments one, three, and four are separate and are not covered here as there is no numismatic element.

After birth as a puppy, the dog is immediately euthanized, and reincarnates into another puppy. The puppy ends up with an eight year old boy, Ethan, who names him Bailey. Ethan and his parents live in Michigan in 1961 where his father is a travelling salesman and his mother is a housewife.

Bailey meets another member of the family.

Bailey feels that the cat should behave more like a dog. Ethan is taken to see his grandparents who live on a farm.

Bailey runs around the farm and finds a deflated football in a barn, which he brings to Ethan.

Ethan plays catch with Bailey and the football will resurface later. The parents have the father's work superior and his wife over for dinner. The father plans to show the boss his coin collection.

The coin collection is small and fits with a small case.

The coins are, top, from left to right, unknown, the 1907 gold coin, a Morgan dollar obverse, bottom, a Peace dollar reverse, a Morgan dollar reverse, and a Walking Liberty half dollar obverse.

The 1907 gold coin:

The coin is a twenty-dollar gold coin, and is usually called a "St. Gaudens Double Eagle", named after the designer Augustus St. Gaudens. An "eagle" is a ten-dollar gold coin. The St. Gaudens coin was first issued in 1907 in a high-relief version, and these are worth a lot of money. There is also a less expensive 1907 low-relief version. Nothing is said in the film about the relief version of the coin that the father owns.

The coin in the film does not look like a real 1907 double eagle and is obviously an imitation prop coin. The real 1907 coins did not have "In God We Trust" on them. The motto was added in 1908. Note the printing underneath the "In God We Trust." The following National Collectors Mint Tribute Coin appears to resemble the film prop coin.

Bronze, gold plated, 39 mm, 26.74 gm
Obverse:
LIBERTY / 1933
Reverse:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUM / IN GOD WE TRUST
COPY# / MG1225

These were struck by the National Collectors Mint and sold in magazine advertisements. They are copies of the infamous and rare 1933 gold Double Eagle or $20 gold piece.

This version does not have the motto "In God We Trust" as it was added later in the year.

Ethan spins the coin on the table.

The coin falls off the table and right into the dog's mouth who swallows it. Ethan nervously attends the family dinner.

The manager asks to see the "famous" 1907 coin later. Ethan asks to be excused to take the dog for a walk and Bailey works fast.

Ethan has to put the coin back into the case, which is laying on the table. He yells that there is a rat in the room causing a commotion, allowing him to replace the coin.

Mission accomplished.

The story jumps a few years and now Ethan is in high school where he is a football star. The father has become a drunk and sits around the house watching television or arguing with his wife. Presumably he sold the coin collection to pay for liquor as it is not mentioned again. Ethan meets Hannah, a local girl, and they begin seeing each other.

Ethan convinces his father to move out of the house after he beats up the mother. Ethan is awarded a college football scholarship but breaks his foot and loses the scholarship. He becomes depressed and breaks up with Hannah. Ethan and his mother move with Bailey to join the grandparents at their farm. Bailey finds a "non-horse" playmate.

Bailey dies and the dog goes through two reincarnations, first as a police dog and then as a family pet.

He then has another reincarnation as Buddy, who remembers his past life as Bailey, and somehow finds his way to the farm where a middle-aged Ethan is living by himself. Ethan then adopts Buddy.

Buddy returns the favor by locating Hannah, who is a widow living in town.

Hannah reads Ethan's name on the dog tag and returns him to Ethan. The high school lovers decide to resume their relationship.

The pair get married and Hannah moves to the farm. Buddy tries to get Ethan to recognize him as his former dog Bailey by locating the old football and bringing it to Ethan.

Buddy chases his tail and catches the football in the same way that Bailey did, causing Ethan to first wonder and then and recognizing that his old dog has returned.

The dog's tag is now seen to read "Bailey."

Bailey finishes with a statement that a dog's purpose is to have fun and to help people.

Josh Gad as the voice of all the dogs
Bryce Gheisar as Young Ethan
KJ Apa as Teen Ethan
Britt Robertson as Teen Hannah
Dennis Quaid as Adult Ethan
Peggy Lipton as Adult Hannah
Juliet Rylance as Ethan's Mom
Luke Kirby as Ethan's Dad
Director: Lasse Hallström
Writers: W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Audrey Wells, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky,
W. Bruce Cameron (novel)