FLOAT 100 · Coins · No. 85
1920-S Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
San Francisco struck 558,000 of these $20 gold pieces in 1920, but one researcher counts only 187 that ever left government hands, and almost everything else went into the melting pot.
- Year
- 1920
- Maker
- U.S. Mint (San Francisco)
- By price in coins
- 46 of 100
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Create a free account- Struck
- 1920, San Francisco Mint
- Mintage
- 558,000; one study finds just 187 were actually distributed
- Survivors
- PCGS estimates 150 in all grades, 73 in mint state and 6 at MS65 or better
- Designer
- Augustus Saint-Gaudens; relief lowered for production by Charles E. Barber
- Specs
- 33.40 grams, 34 mm, 90% gold and 10% copper, lettered edge
- This coin
- PCGS MS64 CAC from the Alymaya Collection, sold for $360,000 in October 2025
- Auction record
- $600,000 for a PCGS MS65, May 2022
- Rarity
- David Akers ranked it the second rarest collectible issue of the series in MS64 or better
A president wants beautiful money
In December 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt wrote to his Treasury Secretary that American coinage was 'artistically of atrocious hideousness.' He turned to his friend, the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to redesign the gold coins, a change that did not require approval from Congress.
Saint-Gaudens died on August 3, 1907, before the designs were ready for production. Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber took over, lowering the relief so the coin could be struck with a single blow and changing the Roman-numeral date to Arabic numerals. About 12,000 high-relief pieces were struck in 1907 and 1908.
Roosevelt had left off the motto IN GOD WE TRUST, believing it debased God's name to put it on money that might be used for illicit purposes. Public protest and an act of Congress put it back by 1908, and the 1920-S carries it.
Gold that never circulated
By the 1920s double eagles were struck in the millions but mostly stayed in Treasury and bank vaults instead of circulating.
That ended in 1933. Executive Order 6102 required Americans to surrender gold coins, and the government melted enormous quantities. Late-date Saint-Gaudens double eagles that had sat in vaults were destroyed in bulk, which is why coins with large mintages can be very rare today.
The 1920-S is a prime example. Of 558,000 struck, researcher Roger Burdette found that only 187 were actually distributed. Unlike most of its era, the 1920-S is sometimes found in circulated grades, and the few high-grade coins were likely saved by collectors serving on the Assay Commission.
The great collections
Two coins share the top of the PCGS condition census at MS66. One came from Louis E. Eliasberg Sr.'s collection, sold in October 1982 for $30,800, and passed through David Akers and Dr. Steven Duckor before bringing $517,500 in November 2005. The other came from an old-time collection to the Duckors in early 2006 and sold for $575,000 in January 2012.
Akers once wrote that the finest he knew was the Browning Collection coin, held in trust by a Texas bank, which he graded MS67. As a PCGS MS65 it brought $103,500 in October 2001 and $517,000 in November 2016. A different PCGS MS65 holds the auction record of $600,000, set in May 2022.
The coin behind this entry, a PCGS MS64 with a CAC sticker from the Alymaya Collection, Part II, sold for $360,000 in an October 2-5, 2025, auction. PCGS lists a recent run of MS64 sales well below that, including $99,875 in February 2015, $99,000 in August 2019, $132,000 in January 2020 and $156,000 in February 2020 for another MS64 CAC.
How to know one
The 1920-S is a standard Saint-Gaudens double eagle with the motto, weighing 33.40 grams and measuring 34 millimeters, with the S mintmark identifying San Francisco.
According to Akers, the issue is usually softly struck on the lower obverse near the rim, especially the Capitol building and stars, but sharp elsewhere. Luster is very good to excellent, and mint-state pieces typically show rich orange color with traces of green and gold. Most are frosty, some satiny.
Some examples show a peculiar triangle-shaped shiny spot near the reverse rim above the eagle's beak. It looks like an abrasion, but it is identical on every coin that has it, so it is a feature of the die, not damage.
A condition rarity
Akers called the 1920-S one of the top condition rarities of the series, only slightly less rare than the 1921 in MS64 or better and rarer at that level than the 1927-D or the 1907 Ultra High Relief. He added that there were far more collectors of fine Saint-Gaudens double eagles than there were mint-state 1920-S coins.
Several examples are in public hands: two at the American Numismatic Society, one in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian, and one at the Connecticut State Library.
The numbers
- Mintage
- 558,000; 187 distributed per Roger Burdette
- Known survivors
- PCGS estimate: 150 in all grades, 73 at MS60+, 6 at MS65+
- Weight
- 33.40 grams
- Diameter
- 34.00 mm
- Composition
- 90% gold, 10% copper
- Edge
- Lettered
- Designer
- Augustus Saint-Gaudens
- This coin's grade
- PCGS MS64, CAC
Timeline
Roosevelt calls U.S. coinage 'atrocious hideousness' and enlists Saint-Gaudens.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens dies; Charles Barber adapts his design.
IN GOD WE TRUST is added to the double eagle.
San Francisco strikes 558,000 double eagles; most stay in government hands.
Executive Order 6102 requires gold coins to be surrendered; mass melting follows.
The Eliasberg 1920-S sells for $30,800.
The Browning coin, PCGS MS65, brings $103,500.
The Eliasberg coin, PCGS MS66, brings $517,500.
The other PCGS MS66 sells for $575,000.
A PCGS MS65 sets the $600,000 auction record.
The Alymaya PCGS MS64 CAC sells for $360,000.
The world in 1920
Babe Ruth's sale to the New York Yankees is made public.
Prohibition begins.
The Negro National League plays its first game, in Indianapolis.
The league that becomes the NFL is founded.
The Nineteenth Amendment guarantees women's suffrage.
A bomb explodes on Wall Street, killing 38.
Warren G. Harding is elected president; KDKA broadcasts the returns as a commercial station.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | $360,000 | Sold at auctionThis coin, PCGS MS64 CAC, Alymaya Collection, Part II. |
A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.
By reference price, 1920-S Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is number 46 of 100 in the coins entries of the FLOAT 100. 96 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (85 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Roosevelt left IN GOD WE TRUST off the new double eagle on purpose; Congress put it back.
- Of 558,000 coins struck, research suggests only 187 ever left government hands.
- The Eliasberg 1920-S sold for $30,800 in 1982; it brought $517,500 in 2005.
- A shiny triangle above the eagle's beak looks like damage but was on the die.
- The best examples were probably saved by collectors who served on the Assay Commission.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026