1927-D Saint-Guadens Double Eagle Sells For $1.65 Million

Saturday June 5, 2005

(Long Beach, California) – One of the finest known 1927-D Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles, graded PCGS MS-66, changed hands for $1.65 million in a private treaty transaction during the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, June 2 – 4, 2005. The $20 denomination gold piece was sold by Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, California to Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, New Jersey.

“The coin is going into the collection of a dedicated collector who is assembling a superb set of Saints,” said Laura Sperber, Co-President of Legend. 

“Legend wanted this coin since we saw it at the Dallas Bank Collection sale four years ago, and we regretted not buying it then. It’s the perfect ‘fit’ for a Saints collection we now are helping a collector assemble.”

Only 180,000 Double Eagles were struck at the Denver Mint in 1927, making it one of the lowest mintage coins in the popular Saint-Gaudens series. But even the small production figure is misleading about its extreme rarity.

“In addition to the low mintage, researchers believe that most of the 1927-D Saints were melted in the 1930s for their gold content. Only about a dozen surviving specimens are known; two of them are permanently part of The Smithsonian’s coin collection, and a third is on loan there,” said Steven L. Contursi, President of Rare Coin Wholesalers.

“This specimen is from the 2001 auction of the Dallas Bank Collection, a sale of Texas oilman and collector H. Jeff Browning’s gold coins that were stored for more than two decades in a bank vault after his death in 1979. The coin is prominently illustrated in the standard reference book about Double Eagles written by David Akers,” explained Contursi. “It is an amazing coin.”

News media contacts:
Steven L. Contursi, (800) 347-3250
Laura Sperber, (800) 743-2646