1925-D $20 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle PCGS MS62 (CAC)

Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle Gold Pieces, 1907-1933

Designed by noted sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the classically designed walking Liberty on this $20 Gold Piece is considered by many to be the most beautiful U.S. coin ever struck. Originally designed in very high relief, the design devices were soon lowered due to the fact that multiple blows of the dies were needed to bring up all the details on the high relief pieces. There are three major varieties of the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle.  These include:

• 1907 High Relief
• 1907-1908 No Motto Type
• 1908-1933 With Motto Type

There were a total of 54 Business Strike and 12 Proof Strike examples minted.  Of this original number, one Business Strike (1933) is legally unobtainable and three Proof Strikes are virtually impossible to acquire: the 1907 Ultra High Relief (24 known - most unobtainable), the 1907 Arabic (3-4 known) and the unique 1908 Satin or "Roman Finish" Proofs.

Despite the fact that many dates within the series are quite expensive, the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle series is a very popular one to collect by those with the financial means to complete it. This series includes one of the few 20th century overdate coins, the 1909 over 8. Other scarce issues in the series includes the low mintage 1908-S, the extremely rare and seldom offered 1927-D, and all issues between 1929 and 1932. Apparently, the majority of these later issues, along with the 1927-D, were melted down during the 1930's. Over 400,000 pieces dated 1933 were struck, but they were never officially released and are not legal to own. In fact, when one did surface in 1954, from the collection of King Farouk of Egypt, it was withdrawn from auction and confiscated by the Federal Government.