Do saint gauden double eagles have numismatic value?

In 1933 president roosevelt banned gold coinage and required you to return all US coinage that didn't have numismatic value. What premium do common date saint gaudens double eagles carry, if any? I heard they can almost be considered a bullion coin.

There's a story about this mint thief many years ago when gold coinage was still around. He would bring a rat and stuff the dead rat full of gold coins. He'd then throw the rat through the window. Walk out of the mint when he was done, and pick up the rat and the gold coins. One time though, he overstuffed the rat, and when he threw the rat on the sidewakl it burst, spilling gold coins everywhere. This was how he was caught. (That's what I learned from a book explaining the history of the 1933 double eagle)

 

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I think they do,as the design of that coin is just so distinctive.In fact,the St.-Gaudens design is actually THE most attractive of all U.S. coin designs.

Does anyone else agree with me on this?

Aidan.

 

sure, they sell for over melt.

 

here's a good article that says ownership is illegal and the government can seize them but there is one variety you are allowed

http://www.coinfacts.com/double_eagles/saint_gaudens_double_eagles/1933_double_eagle.htm

 

Interesting story about the rat.
I recently priced a couple of graded Saints at coin dealers in Connecticut and Massachussetts.

1924 PCGS MS-63 in an older slab was $825.
1928 NGC MS-63 was $800.

 

Twiggs,that only applies to the 1933 Double Eagle.Since the sale of the King Farouk example was sold in that controversial auction a few years back,10 more of them have turned up.There's a whole thread discussing about these 10 coins.

The Double Eagles bearing dates of 1932 & earlier are perfectly legal to own.

Aidan.

 

oops..sorry...dont shoot the newbie

 

Twiggs,you are learning as much about numismatics as everyone else is.Even the old hands are being educated.

Have you found any U.S. coins in change up there in Ontario?

Aidan.

 

a few Aidan

In the last couple of months Ive picked up the 2005 buffalo nickel, 2005 lewis and clark nickel, a 1960 nickel (though it looks more like 1900) a 1966 quarter, 2000 new hampshire quarter and a 1945 and '55 wheat cent (almost said penny...lol)

Things will start to pick up soon at work with American tourists, so the pickings should be good then.

 

I've always thought that Canadian coinage was probably underpriced compared to US coinage.

 

I've heard that story too, though it predates the minting of the St. Gaudens. It seems that in the earlier days of the Mint most of the security precautions were more centered around keeping people from breaking in and stealing anything; it was a while before it occured to them to have any internal security measures to prevent employees from sneaking anything out! They're smarter about that now of course... you should see the stringent security they have at the West Point Mint especially, with sensitive medal detectors to make sure you leave with exactly the same amount of metal you had when you came in. (No public tours of that mint for obvious reasons lol...)

As to your original question, depends on condition of course; most common date double eagles I've seen they usually tack about $150 to $200 to the bullion value for uncirculated or almost uncirculated (double eagles have just under an ounce of gold in them). The bullion value (price of gold per troy ounce x 0.9675 ounces) basically sets the price floor for these. Rarer dates or especially choice pieces will get more than that of course. (Short answer yes, unless it's just in really horrible condition lol... but many people saved these, even non-collectors, so it's not too hard finding these uncirculated or AU. When the gold recall went into effect many collectors took advantage of the exception for collectible coins; the standard for "rare and unusual" was fairly lax, and with the obvious exception of the 1933 double eagles, I've never heard of any St. Gaudens seized from collectors for viloation of the recall. Most of the ones that were turned in for melting were voluntarily given up by non-collectors. A lot of US gold coins were also held outside the US, Europe especially, where the US had no jurisdiction to compel the recall, so when the ban on private gold ownership was repealed in 1974, a lot of US gold coins were reintroduced to the market.)

The 1933, of which only one has been declared by the government legal to privately own, last sold at auction for $7,590,020 in 2002 (to date, the highest price ever paid for a single coin!). 13 are currently known to exist; 2 are in the Smithsonian, one of them is the one sold at auction (owner unknown, at one time rumored to be Bill Gates, though that theory's since been dismissed lol...), and 10 of them are in the hands of the US government, of which their ownership is in dispute with the descendants of Israel Switt (though looks like the government has the stronger case at the moment). Good news is the government says they don't intend to destroy the coins if they're ruled the owners, and will save them for public display.

When the World Series of Money (as the 2006 ANA Coin Show was called in 2006) came to Denver I got to see the 10 double eagles that recently turned up in Switt's shop. Beautiful coins. I don't think I'll ever own a 1933 lol, but if I get a good tax refund next year could probably get one of the common dates in this series.

 

I've always heard that the St. Gaudens were considered the most beautiful of all US coins. I have other favorites, as many people do, but I don't think anyone can deny that these coins are quite striking in person. In fact, I can think of few coins that catch your eye more than a MS63-65 St. Gaudens in hand and outside of a holder. Some things are better without plastic intruding. Anyone agree??

 

I have to admit that I prefer the silver eagle design for the obverse.