1911-S $20 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle PCGS MS65 Ex.Rive d'Or Collection

Here’s a better date in the popular Saint-Gaudens double eagle series (1907-1933), an attractive honey-yellow example that would be a good candidate for a gold type coin to add to your collection. PCGS has graded 667 pieces as MS65, with 83 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $5,500.00 in MS65.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who crafted the stunning design on this popular coin series.

Writes Jeff Garrett, “The 1911–S is significantly scarcer than its Denver counterpart .… The date usually brings a two to three times premium versus common dates of the series in MS 65. Large numbers of this date were found in the El Salvador hoard, but most were in the MS 60 to MS 64 grade. The strike for the date can sometimes be somewhat shallow and, as usual, bag marks plague most examples seen. A few Gem coins [MS66 and MS66+] are known for the date and a few have sold at auction in recent years for $10-15,000.”

This offering from AUCM does not have the “bag marks” that “plague most examples…” Gold specialist David Akers reports, “The 1911-S is nearly always very sharply struck and the surfaces are finely granular and frosty. (I don't recall ever seeing a satiny one like the usual 1910-S.) … Color is almost always very good; a light to medium orange gold color is standard.”