Near Historic Lows on Better Date Saints ... Not for Long

"Better Date" $20 Saint-Gaudens

Back by popular demand, is a limited selection of one of our favorite gold coins—the “Better Date” $20 Saint-Gaudens! When we offered these coins earlier this year, demand was so high, we couldn’t keep up with it. Designed by famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, $20 “Saints” are easily one of the most popular U.S. gold coins due to their stunning design. The “Better Date Saints” we have available today represent some of the lowest prices we’ve seen on these coins in several years and are innumerably more difficult to find than their common date counterparts!

History and Scarcity of $20 Saints

The $20 Saints series contains both readily available dates and extremely rare coins. Mintages and survival rates vary tremendously year to year. In addition, one tiny mintmark can make an incredible difference in value.

For example, in 1927, the Philadelphia Mint issued an enormous number of $20 Saints. Their output was over 2.9 million coins. The same year, the Denver Mint struck 180,000 coins—all but a roll or two were melted. As a result, the 1927 $20 Saint is readily available and sells for $1,500 to $1,750 per coin in Uncirculated. The 1927-D, meanwhile, is a major rarity. One sold for just shy of $2 million in 2014!

The takeaway message is that dates and mintmarks absolutely matter when it comes to $20 Saints.

As a general rule, $20 Saints minted between 1910 and 1923 tend to be scarcer than the 1924 to 1928 Philadelphia issues. Firstly, the mintages are considerably lower. Their output levels were in the hundreds of thousands instead of the millions. Secondly, the later dates were more likely to be sent overseas, and therefore shielded from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1933 Executive Order banning all ownership of gold.

NGC population reports show that over 100,000 Saints exist in MS64 condition of the most common date, the 1924 Philadelphia. The selection we have available today is more than 25 times rarer, on average, than the 1924 issue in MS64 condition. What’s even more striking, are the current premiums on these “Better Date Saints.”

If you’re going to own MS64 Saints right now, the dates we have available represent the very best values in the Saint-Gaudens series. These coins can be 10 to 50 times rarer than common dates, yet sell for only 10% more. Historically, premiums on “Better Date Saints” are typically 40% to 50% higher than common date issues. You’re saving several hundred dollars with this offer—and it likely won’t last long!

Only a short time ago, these coins were selling for $2,000 to $2,500 per coin, and some were $1,000 or more per coin over the market price of gold!

Just recently, however, they have retreated quite a bit and are now available for tantalizingly low premiums as you can see in the chart below.

Source: NGC

The Goldilocks Market for “Better Date Saints”

Considering some of these coins are selling for around $800 less than their peak prices, now is an excellent entry point if you’re interested in “Better Date Saints.” These coins are especially compelling for a number of reasons:

1. The premium over their more common counterparts is at near-historic lows. Instead of selling for $1,000 or more over the value of gold, these are available at only a slight premium over the most common 1924 issue.
2. The numismatic market has been slow to respond to the increase in gold prices in 2017. While the spot price of gold is up almost $100 per ounce over the last year, premiums on “Better Date Saints” have not seen the same increase. Low premiums are still available, meaning you can pay essentially the same price as a year ago—when gold was $100 lower per ounce!
3. These coins are quite rare in MS64 and become even scarcer in MS65. Due to the increased scarcity of the MS65 grade, many of the same dates in MS65 can sell for $4,000 to $5,000 each. Our late co-founder, Glen O. Kirsch always said “buy the highest grade right before the price jumps.” Buying at these levels leaves a lot of potential for these coins to grow.

Grab Them While You Can

When we had a selection of “Better Date Saints” available earlier this year, they were incredibly popular among our readers. Demand for these coins was so high, we still had requests for them even after selling out! If the earlier offer was any indication, our October allocation will go just as fast.

We believe these dates are some of the most undervalued coins in the series, if not in all of United States gold. For a 10% premium over the “generic” price, you’re getting a truly rare coin that usually carries a much larger price tag.

With MS64 “Better Date Saints” selling for prices this low, you can’t afford to wait any longer to add these coins to your portfolio. This is quite possibly one of the most effortless ways to acquire a complete mintmark set! To purchase these coins today, please call us at 800-831-0007 or email us.

*Prices subject to change based on market fluctuation and product availability. Prices reflected are for cash, check, or bank wire. Free shipping, handling, and insurance is included. Offer expires Friday, October 6, 2017.