Auction Name: 2026 March 26 - 28 US Coins Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 3224

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1391*3224

1920-S $10 MS63 PCGS. In an absolute sense, the 1920-S eagle ranks among the rarest Indian Head tens in all grades combined. It also has well established claims to being the rarest date in the series in Mint State grades of MS63 or finer. Only the other great melt rarity in the Indian eagle series - the 1933 issue - comes close to being rarer than the 1920-S in mid-to-high Uncirculated grades. In grades of MS65 or finer, the 1911-D and the 1913-S join the conversation when combining PCGS and NGC grading events. Curiously, the 1933 is listed among the 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, yet the 1920-S ten goes unmentioned. Perhaps as many as 70 to 90 1920-S pieces survive, but more than half of that number exist in circulated grades. Any finer, and the 1920-S is equally as rare as any Indian ten including the 1933. Only 126,500 1920-S eagles were stuck, with a portion of that mintage released into circulation and presumably almost the entire balance melted under terms of the 1930s Gold Recall. Q. David Bowers writes in his 2017 reference, A Guide Book of Gold Eagle Coins:

"It is virtually a certainty that nearly all of the 1920-S pieces minted were held by the Treasury Department and melted after 1933. Relatively few must have seen actual distribution, either domestically or in international commerce. No hoards are known, not even small ones."

This Select Uncirculated sun-gold example survives with frosty luster and a sharper strike than usually seen for the issue. Whereas most 1920-S tens are weakly struck at the central obverse and reverse, this coin shows LIBERTY fully readable and the hair strands sharply defined across the temple and above the ear. The headdress and stars are boldly defined. On the reverse, some weakness persists at the eagle's trailing leg and claw as well as at the shoulder plumage. Only a few light marks exist, easily accounted for by the assigned MS63 grade. PCGS Population: 8 in 63 (2 in 63+), 12 finer (1/26).(Registry values: N7079)

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