The Official Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Thread

Abebos, at first look it appears genuine if worn and circulated. I'm going to study it a bit closer as the pics aren't bad but closeups in some areas are tough to see.

I don't think the pits/holes are tool marks but I'm not an expert on those -- hopefully someone with more experience chimes in.

Do you plan on submitting it to PCGS or NGC ? Unless you are getting a steal (i.e., discount to gold bullion) it might not pay to get it graded as the grade appears at best low-60's and it might be an AU coin.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

This arrived today. The 1911 is a better date, infrequent in MS63 and rare in 64 and up. About 197,000 minted. Picked this up from Mike at ToughCoins.

 

Yes, as GD says...do you KNOW the current owner personally ?

 

David Akers said: "The 1911 is decidedly more rare than the 1910, especially in gem uncirculated condition. Until a substantial hoard of uncirculated examples was discovered in Europe about twenty years ago, the 1911 was thought to be scarce in MS63 condition, and MS64 quality examples were considered moderately rare at the very least. Today, though, there are many hundreds of choice and very choice mint state 1911 double eagles available to collectors. Gems remain rare, however, certainly considerably more so than equal quality examples of the 1908 With Motto and 1910. At the superb MS66 grade level, the 1911 is very rare with perhaps 15-18 known. This specimen, however, is one of only four certified in the superb MS67 grade and is the only one so graded by PCGS. It has exceptional eye appeal with respect to color and luster and is the finest I have ever seen or handled."

 

BTW, I think Akers comments were from 2012......so 20 years earlier would mean the European hoard was about 1992 or so.

 

I BOUGHT 2 $20 GOLD PIECES A 1900 LIBERTY AND A 1910D ST GAUDENS IN 1970-71 AND I PAID $50 FOR THE 1900 LIBERTY AND $55 FOR THE ST GAUDENS AT THAT TIME GOLD WAS $32 OUNCE.

 

You're making me jealous. The purchase of 1 or 2 $20 gold pieces was my dream at that time, too. Just getting ready to graduate from college in May, 1970, and was looking forward to getting a good job and finally having a few bucks in my pocket to buy those gold twenties I saw splashed every week all over the back pages of Coin World. But I wasn't so lucky, Uncle Sam interfered, and I spent the summer of 1970 in basic training and was getting paid $67 net cash for the month on a rifle range at Fort Dix.
I finally got my first $20 Liberty, a 1907, in 2018, some 48 years later.

 

I was in a similar situation. At least you bought your 1st $20 in 2018, 2 years before Covid and the price of gold went thru the roof. I should probably consider buying a few but will have to wait until I find some at auction. My experience with US coin dealers is that they usually pay about 15 cents on the dollar and sell at 2-3X the average auction price.

Coin collecting seems to run in the paternal side of my family. My aunt, who just passed away 3 weeks ago at age 102& 1/2 picked up an 1898 or 1899 P mint Liberty $20 at face value. She ran a Polish kielbasa shop in NJ post WW-2. One day a customer walked into her shop and wanted to know if she'd take a $20 for a purchase! Her son now has the coin. I saw the coin in 2018 and grade it an absolutely flawless AU-58, never having been in a bag. I forget if it was 98 or 99 tho.

 

Recent Saint Auctions:

$166,202 (ex-bp) for a beautiful MCMVII High Relief MS-66+ from the "Half Dome Collection" (anybody ever hear of it ?) over at GC this past Sunday. 23 total bidders including about 10 who were still there onc it crossed 6-figures.

Surprised a 1928 MS-66+ only went for $4,368/$4,914 and a 1924 MS-66+ went for $3,701/$4,164. Thought both might be higher since MS-67's for each go closer to $12-$14K. Another 1924 MS-66+ went for $4,100/$4,613.

A 1914 PF-55 went for $17,944/$20,187 with plenty of bidders for these rare proofs.

Definitely seeing HIGHER but no-where near BUBBLE pricing for Saints, even when higher prices should be dragging up the rear. They're higher...but not absurdly so.

 

If buyers knew what they were doing, there are some great buys out there on various sites, especially on some better-date under-graded type III coins.

Of course CAC has beaned them because they're 2-4 grades under current market graded specimens with only MS60-61 TPG grading on the slabs.

Who Would buy Type III certified Double Eagles with only 60-61 grades. LOL

Some premiums are low as 40% above Gold market price.

Some dealers are asking that amount for the bean, above normal top-tier TPG certified market sales values.

The market is rapidly correcting for an increase in Gold pricing.

JMHO

 

Admittedly, I rarely look at low-60's Saints. Might have to start looking.

That's WAY off !!

Folks who want bullion substitutes, I guess.

So they must not be generic or commons. Probably 1 grade rarer above ?

40% is VERY HIGH unless the coin's value jumps A TON 1 grade higher. I don't see a 40% bump for Saint commons like 1924 or 1927 in MS-66 where the increase is about $1,000 or 20% or so. MS-67's sell for low 5-figures.

I myself think gold is basing here, but your astute and accurate (IMO) observations above may or may not be indicative of a forthcoming rise in gold. I don't know if they are "tells."

 

We must be close to the same age. I was drafted in May 1968 and took Basic Training at Fort Bragg. Lucky for me, my father was stationed at Fort Bragg at the same time as well as my brother in law. You should have seen the drill sergeants jump when they came to bring me something. My father was a LT Colonel at the time and my brother in law was a first louie. I had dated one of the drill sergeants daughters, but if you think they lightened up on me, think again. They razzed on me every day. I had KP 3 times. My father would pick up my uniforms and other things and my mother had them cleaned.
Reality raised its ugly head when I went to Fort Dix for AIT. I was scheduled for OCS at Fort Sill, but while on guard duty, I had an appendix attack while on guard duty and had to have emergency surgery. I got 30 days of convalescence leave an used that time to get married. I returned to Fort Dix and had to have a medical exam to see if I was healthy enough to return to duty. However, it seems the doctor that did my appendix surgery messed it up and I had to have another operation to fix the first operation and then got 30 more days of leave.
By that time I had been in the army for almost a year. My father came to see me and he told me that I would not have to go to Vietnam because he was headed that way and my brother was on a cruiser in the Gulf of Tonkin. Due to the Sullivan Act, I was precluded from going. I signed up for jump school at Fort Benning and when that was over I was given the option to going to Fort Bragg. My family had moved by then. I was assigned to the 4th Brigade until the 3rd Brigade's colors came home and without moving, I was then in the 3rd Brigade. They found out I could type, so I was given special duty with JAG and became a court reporter.
I was poor as a church mouse, though, but was allowed to live off the base with my new wife.
Now, that was my excuse for not being able to buy gold. I finally bought my first gold coin 2009. My first gold coins were a 1904 $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle and an 1895 $10 Liberty Head Eagle which I had graded. The 1904 came back from NGC UNC Details and the 1895 came back a MS 61. The dealer offered to buy them back, but I kept them.
Now, that's my dog's story, and I am sticking to it.

 

From the looks of your photo to the left of your comment, I assumed you were a Navy F-4 pilot flying from a carrier somewhere in the Gulf of Tonkin off the North Vietnam coast.

 

1908 Wells Fargo No Motto MS-69: I almost missed that last September the same exact MS-69 (1 of 10 from the hoard) sold for 2x the price it sold for less than 2 years earlier. From PCGS:

In another example, Heritage Auctions sold one of only 10 PCGS-graded MS69 No Motto Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles for $96,000 in January 2020. The very same coin hit the market in September at GreatCollections where it brought exactly double the previous price – $192,375, including the buyer’s fee.

 

The Legend 08 w/motto Dome piece PCGS 64 CAC Green went for 5K a couple of weeks ago.

 

I don't know the Motto 1908's as well as the No Motto's.....is that a low or high price ?

 

A non-CAC PCGS 64 went for $4860 or so in Nov. Baggy+. The Dome piece was a holdover. Legend# 1254-2553895.

It was not really a good comparison. Not many 64 CAC sales, but in general, 3200-4400 no CAC. The 5K was Legend's best price for the piece, and fair.

 

We're talking about CACed Double Eagles, where 40% before shipping/taxes is less than $2550, for scarce date coins.

I look at every coin that is in that range, and "market grading" is really producing some ugly coins, as I've recently posted up to MS66 specimen links on this site.

I buy everything that's a scarce date without rub, minimal bag marks, nice uniform fields, no stains/Copper-spots, etc., as should be seen on a MS65.

If you have an interest in current grading, you should look at "Gem" graded coins.

JMHO