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Sale 78
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Lot 1853
1920-S. PCGS graded AU-55. An important rarity in the $10 Indian series. A pleasing looking example for the grade boasting a decent strike, lacking the "TY" in Liberty which is always the case. Enough remaining mint luster to justify the given grade. Identified by a nick at Liberty's chin. Delicate light golden in color throughout. Pop 11; 36 finer
This date is legendary among modern collectors. In associations with 1930-S and 1933, it is one of three prime Indian Head Eagle rarities. It has been surmised that most 1920-S Eagles were retained in commercial banks, the Treasury (as backing for Gold Certificate currency), and in Federal Reserve vaults. Few were loose in circulation between the time they were minted and the summer of 1933, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt nationalized the privately owned gold and had it transferred to the Treasury. Very few 1920-S Eagles reached circulation. The majority, sadly, were melted down and cast into 400-ounce "coin melt" gold bars. This great melting took place in 1934-37 under the supervision of Nellie Tayloe Ross, director of the Mint, 1933-53. The resulting coin-melt bars were then stored in the newly constructed Fort Knox made for that purpose, an army base in Kentucky. A bare handful of the 1920-S issue escaped this fate.
Since at least the 1930s, the 1920-S eagle has been known and recognized as a key date and, by the time of the publication of the first edition of the Red Book in 1947, the 1920-S was already placed along with the 1930-S for its position of third rarest issue of the series after the 1907 Rolled Edge and 1933. (It is significant that after 60 years, the top four population rarities of the series have kept their relative positions, although the 1920-S is now accepted to be much rarer than the 1930-S in all grades.) The mintage of 126,500 pieces, although somewhat low, barely places the 1920-S in the top 10 lowest mintage regular issues of the series. However, its survival rate obviously has been extremely low in light of the information provided above (PCGS # 8881) .
Estimated Value $20,000 - 22,000.
Ex: Purchased from Abner Kreisberg in the 1970's The Del Valle Collection.
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| Realized $44,650 |
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