LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 April Rosemont, IL (CSNS) US Coin #1104  / 

2519

1921 $20 MS62 PCGS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:150,001.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1921 $20 MS62 PCGS
<B>1921 $20 MS62 PCGS.</B></I> Those not familiar with the Saint-Gaudens double eagle series would probably demonstrate little reaction when shown a 1921 twenty in MS62. A specialist, however, would immediately understand the absolute and conditional rarity of this elusive issue. The recorded mintage of 1921 double eagles provides little indication of rarity, with a total of 528,500 pieces being the widely accepted figure. Relative to other double eagles struck in the 1920s, the mintage of the 1921 issue is low to begin with. However, Breen, in his <I>Complete Encyclopedia</B></I>, notes that the "relative rarity of the later dates, unlike those of earlier years, owes less to limited mintages than to extensive melting and random survival of specimens in French and Swiss banks during the decades after the Great Recall of 1933-34." The 1921 twenties, which chronologically fall in the middle of the series, were likely melted in vast quantities, but were struck too early to be included in any significant European hoards. Breen suggest that "about five" were repatriated between 1981 and 1989. In the past decade the population data at the two major grading services has changed very little regarding the 1921 double eagles, suggesting that most, if not all, sources of new examples have been exhausted. Anything is possible, but the surfacing of a new 1921 double eagle would be the proverbial needle in the haystack. <BR> PCGS has reported a total of 95 1921 twenties in all grades, which is comparable to the challenging 1920-S with a population of 91 coins (3/08). However, the 1921 is scarcer in Uncirculated grades and is perhaps the second rarest date in the series behind the legendary 1927-D. As a point of fact, the 2008 <I>Guide Book</B></I> lists the 1921 and 1927-D as the only two Saint-Gaudens double eagles with values above six-figures at the MS60 level. Further evidence of the rarity of this issue in Mint State is provided by the authors of <I>The Coinage of August Saint-Gaudens as Illustrated by the Phillip H. Morse Collection</B></I> when they compared the 1921 to the 1920-D issue: <BR> "A few more XF-AU coins are known of the 1921, but there are only a handful of coins that exist above MS63. Probably no more than 50-70 AU pieces are known today, and somewhere between 40-60 individual Mint State examples are extant. The 1921 is virtually impossible to locate in MS64 and better condition--such coins are held in strong hands in major collections and only rarely enter the marketplace. This issue was notably absent from the Thaine Price Collection, and the 1921 in the Browning Collection was a Choice AU."<BR> The same Morse<I> </B></I>reference also states: "Surprisingly little is known about the luster characteristics of the 1921." The leading experts in the field have seen so few Uncirculated coins that no reliable characteristics are known about this issue. This particular coin falls more in line with what Akers stated in 1988, with frosted surfaces and a strike that is generally sharp. The striking details on this piece are above average with the only area of softness of note located on Liberty's foot. Each side displays rich reddish tinged patina, especially around the margins. The only mentionable mark on this important, key date is a shallow horizontal scrape in the left obverse field just above the tips of the sun's rays.<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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