The 1920 is the ultimate condition rarity in the St. Gaudens double eagle series. It is very common in grades up to and including MS63 and only marginally hard to locate in MS64. Gems are another matter and after 25+ years of grading, PCGS has only slabbed one: the famous Eliasberg/Morse/Kutasi/Duckor example that sold for $109,250 in 2007 and again in 2012 for $86,250.

The present example is one of the nicer 1920 Saints that I have personally seen with rich, natural orange-gold color atop frosty surfaces. There are enough marks to state with conviction that this coin will never grade MS65 at PCGS but it is certainly head and shoulders better than the typical MS64 1920 Saint.

Unless you have an absolutely unlimited budget, this CAC-approved MS64 makes a lot more sense to me than an MS65 (if available, which is not likely) especially at around one-twentieth of the price.

The last four APR’s for CAC-approved PCGS MS64 1920 Saints are $6,325, $6,038, $5,750 and $6,900, respectively.

CAC has approved fifty in this grade with none finer.