Value of 1908-D St. Gaudens $20 Gold

Value of 1908-D Motto St. Gaudens $20 Gold

Sharply struck with frosty, if somewhat granular luster, the typical 1908-D Motto St. Gaudens double eagle is well-produced. Scattered abrasions are the norm, and in lower Mint State grades they can be both sizeable and numerous.
The 1908-D Motto has long been regarded as one of the scarcer early date issues in the Saint-Gaudens double eagle series, although repatriations from foreign sources in recent decades have made it relatively obtainable in grades through MS-64. The first significant find came in 1983 when several hundred Uncirculated coins came out of hiding in Central America. Despite the influx of these and other coins into the numismatic market, however, the 1908-D Motto remains very scarce in MS-65 and rare any finer. The finest certified coins have been graded MS-67, one of which is the spectacular Eliasberg specimen that appeared in Bowers and Ruddys 1982 sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg United States Gold Coin Collection.