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Sale 42
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Lot 3549
1932 $20 St. Gaudens. NGC graded MS-66. NGC #1508325-003. Well struck with rich golden toning on both sides. A very rare date in top condition, the first of two offered in the Hesselgesser Collection. Creamy gold surfaces eddy and churn with almost "frothy" luster with the coin's color shifting back and forth between warm golds, peachy oranges, and pale rose shades. At the same time that the luster blossoms, substantial detail reveals itself on the highpoints of this exceptionally fine example. An historic offering in this grade, truly a coin to retain in your memory for years to come.
During the year this double eagle was minted, the country was in the throes of an economic maelstrom. Banks were closing left and right. The Dow Jones Stock Index, which had traded as high as 381 in September 1929, scraped bottom at 42 (yes, forty-two, for an 88% decline) in the summer of 1932. At the same time, the price of gold in London and other European capitals began to rise, climbing from $20.67 an ounce to about $29 an ounce late in the year as panic spread. (England, Germany, Austria, and other European governments had gone off the gold standard in 1931.) The American presidential election in November 1932, rather than soothing the disturbance with a nice calming layer of oil instead inflamed passions to the point where Americans (as well as Europeans) made their intentions known both legally and morally under the Gold Standard rules by engaging in a massive gold "run on the banks." It was in these circumstances that the new man in office, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, would take the rickety steering wheel in the first stress-filled "100 days" of his administration, March of 1933. Is it any wonder why so few rare 1932 double eagles exist today? Pop 9; 3 in 66 star (PCGS # 9194) .
Estimated Value $120,000 - 140,000.
The Dr. Robert Hesselgesser Collection.
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| Realized $143,750 |
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