1927-S $20 St Gaudens MS64 NGC

1927-S $20 Saint-Gaudens 

NGC MS64

Only 11 numerically finer at NGC. This coin is an impressive Choice example, with sharply detailed design elements. Liberty's facial features are sharply rendered. The pleasing orange-gold surfaces are well preserved. Vibrant mint luster radiates from both sides, adding to the outstanding eye appeal. This coin should find a home in a fine collection of Saint-Gaudens double eagles.

Only a tiny fraction of the total mintage survive today! For the numismatist assembling a date set of Saint-Gaudens double eagles, the later issues present a formidable challenge, even when the 1933 double eagle is excluded. Most were struck at the Mint then immediately set aside in Treasury vaults where they sat until the early 1930s when they were sent right back to the Mint for melting down into ingots. The 1927-S is typical of these later issues.

The mintage of 3,107,000 pieces would ordinarily suggest a very common coin, but of these three million, only 3,750 were actually delivered to the Federal Reserve or to large commercial banks. A little more than 3,000 were retained for assay purposes, and the balance - just under 3.1 million coins - were immediately sent into storage then destroyed without having seen the light of day.