1921 $20 MS(PCGS#9172)

September 2007 Pre-Long Beach Auction #42

Auctioneer

Goldberg Auctioneers

Lot Number

3524

Grade

MS65

Price

1,012,000

Lot Description

Nice light even golden toning on both sides. Near perfect fields. A beautiful well struck coin. And a key date for this series, lest it be forgotten. Among the finest known 1921 Saint-Gaudens $20 gold pieces. Similar examples have sold for one million dollars. Gorgeous Brilliant Uncirculated and solidly, like the Hope Diamond, in the Gem category is this magnificent specimen. The gleaming fresh yellow-gold luster astounds one and all with its wisp of enchanting pale orange hues, the coin blossoming with vigorous cartwheel spin. Put a strong magnifying glass to the coin and you just might find a few scattered marks, but they are so tiny and obscure as to be lost in the wonderfully rich golden glow. An incredibly rare year from a rather low mintage of only 528,500 pieces made in the depth of a typical but fortunately short business depression following the War boom of 1914-18. It is common to find many other dates in the series, particularly those struck in the 1920s and 1930s, were stored in U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank vaults as backing for the currency and demand and savings accounts. Many now doubt were melted in the mid-1930s, with few reaching general circulation at the time of issue. Fewer still were preserved in Mint State, let alone Gem Mint State.