Difference in cost of Liberty Double Eagle and St Gaudin's Gold Double Eagle

I have only bought 2 Liberty Gold coins. One was a Double Eagle that came back with Details and the other is an Eagle that came back with MS-61. The only gold coins that I have bought have been from the Mint. Anyway, I want to get another Double Eagle and I would appreciate help buying another double eagle.

 

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Well, it really depends on what you want. Answer some questions, and we can try to steer you:

- Do you like the Liberty design better, or do you prefer St. Gaudens?
- Are you looking for circulated, uncirculated? What grade range are you looking for?
- Raw? Or slabbed by a TPG (PCGS or NGC)?
- Are you willing to buy a details (cleaned) coin again, or do you prefer problem-free?
- Is there a particular date or mintmark you want, or any date will do?
- Are you considering building a set? Or are you acquiring gold?

Once you have those questions answered, the next step is actually finding it. We can help with that too.

 

Purely speaking from a personal perspective here…. Since you already own two Liberty double eagles, I believe you would do yourself a favor to make a St. Gaudens your next double Eagle purchase. It’s such an appealing coin to hold and admire……. I would lean on a trusted dealer to direct my purchase of one. It’s been a while since I shopped for one but they are usually quite available from most any established dealer.

 

I have many USM gold coins and want to venture into Double Eagles prior to 1933. I would like to get a St Gaudens Double Eagle, preferably prior to 1900 and 63 to 65.
I have about 20 coins graded by PCGS and about 50-60 NGC, mostly silver. I do not want another "Details" coin.
I am afraid that once I start buying St. Gaudens Gold, it will be like potato chips. One is not enough. However, I do have to answer to our home comptroller that has me on a budget.
I have collected quite a few gold coins from the Mint. I have focused on the American Liberty Gold Coins and the Silver Coins as well. I am still looking for the 2015 W American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin and the 2019 W American Liberty High Liberty Gold Proof Coin. I have bought the Corresponding silver coins.
I don't know how many members here jump from one type to another, but I am still looking.

 

OK... what I'm hearing is St. Gaudens, 63-65, slabbed, problem free, and most likely NGC (but open to PCGS).

St. Gaudens started in 1907, so your date range won't work.....

I'd say, if you don't really care about date, and you're not picky... Apmex generally has a good selection and good prices. They are bullion dealers, so they're going to treat these coins as bullion. You're gonna get what you get, but it will be certified at the grade, and it will be PCGS or NGC.

https://www.apmex.com/category/11902/20-saint-gaudens-double-eagle-coins-1907-1933

 

Curious as to what you have done since...the split between LH DE's and SG DEs.

I only have Saints myself but am looking to buy a nice Liberty Head. The design grows on you after a while. You have more wide-open fields (on the obverse, at least) and a unique design.

If you buy the coins for history and their provenance, the LHDEs also are synonymous with the 1849 California Gold Rush...a bunch of famous shipwreck hoards (ship disasters much rarer after 1907 when the Saints were struck)...3 different Types for the LH....and much much more.

I think the difficulty in collecting all or most of the coins, even in lower grades, is one reason why Saints are more popular. Plus, being the newer coin people might just be more familiar with them.

Haven't found a good year-by-year book on them of late, though Doug Winter and a colleague wrote a trio of books a while back. Bowers Whitman Red Book is pretty good (though dated)....and the Liberty Head Double Eagles coffee table book, even though most of it is on past historical, cultural, and economic/financial events (not the coins themselves)...is still a worthwhile read, especially for learning about the use of various gold strikes in North America (California, Yukon, Denver, Alaska, etc.).

 

There are many common date St. Gardens $20 gold coins. Believe it or not, the St. Gaudens double eagle is, by the design, the most common "old" (prior to 1933) U.S. gold coin. Many of them were repatriated to the U.S. once the dust settled on the 1933 gold surrender order.

The Liberty $20 gold is actually a bit scarcer, especially if you want Mint State coins. There are a few common dates, with 1904 leading the list by a wide margin. Many of the other dates are deceptively scarce. The reason that many collectors don’t realize that is because most of us can’t afford to collect $20 gold pieces by date and mint mark.

My main advice is to buy certified coins, if you are buying the pre 1933 pieces. The counterfeits have been around since I was starting out in the 1960s. Many U.S. gold counterfeits were made in Lebanon back then. They contain gold, sometimes more than the legal amount, but they are only worth their scrap value, which is less than melt value.

If you really want to expand your horizons, here is my U.S. gold type set which is on the NGC registry. It took me many years to assemble this set, and the older coins are quite expensive. I have been a collector for about 65 years. I bought a couple of the coins in this in the 1960s when I was in high school.

https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/5345/

 

Off topic, but the rankings in that set are wonky. Yours is the #5 set but is 100% complete, while the #1 set is only 51% complete. I realize that it's because the #1 set has a handful of very high grades, but it doesn't seem fair that they should be "best set" when they only have half of the set.

 

I agree with you, but all a very rich guy needs to do to be #1 is buy a few Proof gold coins. Those pieces are rare because most years, the Philadelphia Mint often sold less than 100 sets a year. The coins are delicate and easily damaged. So if a collector shows up with a $20 gold in PR-65 or higher, they get a boat load of points.

I used to the only collector who was 100% complete for the half cent through non gold dollar category. I've never been #1 because those who collect very high grade modern coins get a lot of bang for the buck. I put the big money into the early coins. I have MS-65s for the later stuff, BUT if you buy MS-67s, that makes up for the fact that you might have a Gobrecht Dollar in PR-10 while I have one in PR-62. Or I can have a 1796 Quater in VF-25 while someone else has one in AG-03. They beat me with their high grade coins from later periods.

I gave up on being #1 a long time ago after I wasted some money on it. It's like a dog chasing its tail. I will never catch it. One of the top guys was the CEO of Frito-Lay. I can't compete with that.

 

There should be big bonus points for completion. It seems like that would level the playing field a bit. The goal of a set is to complete it, not throw a ton of money at a handful of very high grade coins just so you can "win."

 

When I first started posting coins on that registry, NGC said that the rankings should not be based on posting a few expensive coins with a low completion percentage, but their point system has not worked out that way.

 

My take on all this...good information, buy what you like
If you aren't buying in hand, a reputable dealer would be great.
The home comptroller made me Laugh
We are all accountable

 

It’s always a tough balancing act in comparing sets. How do you weigh completeness against quality? Many sets can be completed with good and fair coins that are relatively inexpensive. How do you balance that against collections that have concentrated on high grade coins but aren’t complete. It’s easy to say that those collectors that have high grade coins should just buy cheap ones to fill the holes. But for some collectors, it’s a matter of principle to have minimum standards for each slot. And upgrading can get expensive. There’s the markup or premium on the initial coin and on its replacement. And maybe a seller’s fee on the initial coin.

NGC and PCGS try to achieve a balance by weighting points for coins in registry sets by rarity (equates to expense). I don’t always agree with the weights. One difference between the two is that to get an annual award for best set, PCGS requires 95% completion. For sets of less than 20 coins, that means 100% completion. NGC doesn’t care about completion … best sets get annual awards.

I enjoy both registries because it’s easy to see lots of sets of my favorite coins. I have coins in some categories but am not overly fixed on rankings. It’s only fair that if some folks are going to show me theirs that I show them mine.

Cal

 

UPON RECEIVING A P.M. WITH REASONABLE ANSWERS, I'M CERTAIN I CAN ASSIST!

 

It may not make any difference, but in my opinion, you're #1 for EFFORT, and COMMUNICATION!