Rare $20 Saint Gaudens 1921 Fetches $126,500 at Heritage Auctions

As of February 2011, a rare collectible $20 Saint Gaudens 1921 made $126,500 to become the top lot of the auction. According to David Akers Handbook of 20th Century United States gold Coins, $20 Saint Gaudens of such “grade MS-63 or finer are offered only once in a very long while.” Produced till 1933, the $20 Saint Gaudens is considered one of the most beautiful designs in the American coinage history.

More on the Rare 20 Saint Gaudens Gold Coins

The coin’s origin goes back to US President Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to the Smithsonian Museum in 1905, where he attended an exhibition of ancient Greek coins. The president was amazed at the aesthetics and symbolic power of the Greek coins and envisioned a completely new generation of American coinage mirroring the emerging power and strength of America. He felt that the existing American coins were dull and unworthy of the nation. Hence, he commissioned the services of the greatest sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, for completing this colossal task. A master of fine arts, Augustus Saint-Gaudens was well-known not only in the US, but also across the world. Saint-Gaudens readily began work on the Double Eagle $20 Saint Gaudens, upon whom the coin came to be known.

While Saint-Gaudens completed the $20 Saint Gaudens’ coin design before his death in 1907, he could not complete work on the entire series of American coinage. Gaudens’ masterpiece, the $20 Double Eagle Saint Gaudens, has a unique design that represents the power and strength of the American nation. The obverse of the coin depicts Lady Liberty walking from out of the rising sun, with her hair flowing. She holds an olive branch in her left hand and a torch in the right. The inscription LIBERTY is inscribed over Lady Liberty’s head. The back of the coin depicts American Eagle flying above the rising sun rays. it is also inscribed with the words “United States of America,” and “Twenty Dollars” over the top. The 20 Saint Gaudens measures 34 mm in diameter, with 90% gold and each coin yielding .9675 troy ounces of pure gold. Minted from 1907 to 1933, 20 Saint Gaudens were minted in Denver (with mintmark “D”), Philadelphia (no mintmark) and San Francisco (mintmark “S”).

The US Mint produced Saint Gaudens Double Eagle from 1907 to 1933. In 1933, during the Great Depression, when gold recall was underway, the US Mint had already pressed 445,500 coins. These, however, were never issued. Instead, they were kept sealed in the Philadelphia Mint vault cage (around 1780 bags). During this period, as gold supply decreased, the President urged people not to hoard the precious metal and asked them to exchange gold for paper currency. In January 1934, under the Gold Reserve Act, the Federal Reserve’s gold was nationalized and their price increased. Then, the US Mint director ordered that all the nation’s gold coins be melted into bars. Finally, in early 1937, the Philadelphia Mint sent its gold coins, including the $20 saint Gaudens, for melting.

If you too want to be a proud owner of this unique piece, Call us at our offices. You can purchase different graded and certified $20 Saint Gaudens gold coins at various prices, depending on their value, quality and rarity. The best ones are also authenticated and certified Mint State by the Professional Coin Grading Service.