1879-S $20 MS(PCGS#8991)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

6431

Grade

MS62

Price

8,700

Lot Description

Attractive orange-apricot surfaces support a full strike and bountiful mint luster. A truly handsome example, with superior eye appeal for the assigned grade. The mintage for this issue is 1,223,800 pieces. Many were shipped to foreign destinations, although fewer have been repatriated than for many other double eagles of the era. Some 500 to 700 Uncirculated examples exist, mainly at the MS-60 and MS-61 levels. The 1879-S was a particularly challenging issue in Mint State before examples starting returning to the United States from foreign bank hoards. Even so, it remains scarce with the quality and eye appeal offered here, and rare any finer.