1929 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. MS-65 (PCGS). CMQ.Sharply struck and satiny. Mostly brilliant surfaces with blushes of peach iridescence on the reverse. Virtually as nice as the day it was made, this premium Gem example will elicit strong bids from the most discerning gold collectors.<p>In 1929 the mintage of double eagles continued with robust numbers as Philadelphia churned out 1,779,750 pieces for circulation. Most of these - in fact, virtually all - were set aside as bank reserves and held in vaults or perhaps maintained under the control of the Treasury or Federal Reserve. As history has now told the story, most of the gold that was shipped to European bank vaults for international settlements was dated 1928 and earlier. For unknown reasons, double eagles dated 1929 and later were never available in quantity to ship to Europe, and this normally healthy source for gold coinage of the era included these later issues in minimal numbers. In March of 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt signed Presidential Order #6260 and then seized gold coins from the public and banks, most of these later date double eagles were already in government or bank vaults and were quickly melted into gold bars for storage at Fort Knox in Kentucky. Perhaps 1,000 1929 double eagles survive in all, overwhelmingly in lower Uncirculated grades. Precious few have been certified MS-65 or finer by PCGS and NGC.PCGS# 9190. NGC ID: 26GL.PCGS Population: 30; 8 finer (MS-66+ finest).From the Dr. Solomon Collection. Earlier from our (Stacks) Keusch, Snow & Del Zorro Collections sale, November 2008, lot 4745; our (Stacks) Treasures from the S.S. New York sale, July 2009, lot 1569.
