LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Jan. FUN Signature Coin Auction #454  / 

3362

1908-S $20 MS65 PCGS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:37,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1908-S $20 MS65 PCGS
<B>1908-S $20 MS65 PCGS.</B></I> The impressively low mintage of the 1908-S double eagle (22,000 pieces) trails only the Ultra High Relief and High Relief. Many of these coins entered the channels of commerce, as at least twice as many circulated pieces are known than those in Uncirculated grades. While the 1908-S is a challenging coin in terms of absolute numbers available, a surprising number of high grade examples are known, with approximately 40 near-Gems certified by PCGS and NGC. Nearly 40 Gem-quality pieces have been graded (MS65, MS66, MS67) to date.<BR> There are rumors of small to large hoards of 1908-S twenties, with David Bowers in his 2004 <I>Guide Book of Double Eagle Gold Coins</B></I> saying "thanks to the importation of the current generation, such coins (MS62-64) are much more available (today) than they were prior to the 1980s." Walter Breen reports in his <I>Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins</B></I> that "a bag of 1,000 found in Central America has not yet been confirmed."<BR> When one looks at the grade distribution of known 1908-S double eagles, hoard quantities of this issue must have certainly been in small numbers. And because of the lower grades found in most hoards, one would also surmise that the high grade pieces that are known today were most likely set aside by collectors at the time of issue.<BR> The frosty surfaces of this MS65 specimen yield attractive yellow-gold color, and exhibit sharply impressed design elements, including excellent delineation in Liberty's facial features, fingers, and toes, the panes of the Capitol building, and the eagle's feathers. A few trivial obverse marks just barely preclude an even higher grade. Population: 12 in 65, 13 finer (11/07).<BR><I>From The Jacob Collection of Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Coin Engraver:</B> Augustus Saint-Gaudens<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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