1925-S $20 St. Gaudens Double Eagle PCGS MS62. Fresh. The 1925-S $20 gold coins share a story with that of many Branch Mint double eagle issues made in the 1920s and early 1930s. While having a large mintage, in this particular case 3,776,500 (third highest of the series), most pieces were hoarded by the banks and melted after the great recall of gold in the mid 1930s. Because of this, these issues are surprisingly rare, and the greatest rarities were creating in this turmoil of American history. This is also specified by Garrett and Dannreuther in their U.S. Gold Coin Encyclopedia:

The tremendous mintage reported for the 1925-S double eagle should be disregarded, as most of this issue ended up being melted in the 1930sSpecimens that did survive can be traced back to meager hoards held by European banks, or had been squirreled away by fortunate American collectors

Furthermore, Q. David Bowers calls this issue a sleeper, and considers it to be very rare. We can not argue with these authors, as offerings of this issue in Mint State are few and far between. While some pieces exist which have been graded higher than the present offering, these are mostly locked up in specialized collections, and any offering of a Mint State coin is an event.

Extremely rare in any grade higher than MS-63, this is an excellent coin for the collector seeking an uncirculated example of this scarce issue. A strong strike is noted on both sides, where full luster is featured. The surfaces are relatively free from abrasions, and the overall eye-appeal is excellent. The coin appears to be completely original, with no dipping or cleaning ever taken place. In all, this is a scarce coin and an excellent opportunity for the specialist, at a very reasonable price for a 1925-S double eagle.