1920-S $10 MS(PCGS#8881)

Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2479

Grade

AU58

Price

73,200

Lot Description

The offered 1920-S eagle is a suitably lustrous Choice AU quality example of this elusive Indian eagle issue. The surfaces are satin to softly frosted in texture with considerable mint bloom. The strike is quite sharp overall, although we do note isolated bluntness of detail to the eagle's trailing leg and the opposing area near the center of the obverse portrait. Lightly cleaned at one time, but to no great detriment as the surfaces exhibit pretty honey-gold color with wisps of pinkish-rise iridescence. As well, most of the wispy handling marks are small in size and singularly inconspicuous during in-hand appreciation.<p>The 1920-S is an elusive issue, one that has prevented many numismatists from completing a set of Indian eagles. This is the third rarest circulation strike of the type in terms of total number of coins known, trailing only the 1907 Rounded Rim and 1933. Even the highly regarded 1930-S is not quite as challenging to collect as the 1920-S, particularly in Mint State. The extreme rarity of the 1920-S is not due to an unusually small mintage, for at 126,500 coins struck it was produced in similar quantities to the far more obtainable 1909-D, 1914, and 1916-S. Rather, the 1920-S is so elusive because few examples escaped the wholesale destruction of gold coins carried out by the federal government during the late 1930s. Unlike the 1930-S, an issue that did not circulate to any great extent, the 1920-S is just as likely to be encountered in worn condition as it is in Mint State, when it is encountered at all. This suggests that at least a small percentage of the mintage was released into commercial channels before the government stopped paying out gold coins at par in 1933, at which time it also demanded that citizens turn in whatever pieces they possessed. Based on the paucity of examples in numismatic circles, the number of 1920-S eagles that escaped destruction through melting was obviously extremely small. Most of the survivors are in tightly held collections, and in many years we are fortunate to offer even a single example through auction. This coin's appearance certainly represents an important opportunity for advanced 20th century gold enthusiasts.