1877-S $20 MS60 Certification #49771994, PCGS #8984

Ron Guth

The Saddle Ridge Hoard of gold coins, discovered in northern California in 2013, boosted the population of 1877-S 20s by thirty-four examples, one of which was tied for Finest Known at PCGS MS65.  Three others tied for Second Finest honors at PCGS MS64.

In 2009, Brian Koller, a cataloguer for Heritage Numismatic Auctions, reported an 1877-S $20 with a repunched final A in AMERICA (the underlying A leans to the right).  Because dies from this period were created using hubs, where all of the design details and letterings derive from a master galvano, an anomaly such as a widely repunched letter is inexplicable.  Theories include: 1) the doubling existed on the galvano; 2) dies created from the galvano had repunched A's that were corrected in the dies or resultant hubs (hence the reason thjey haven't been seen before): and 3) a corrected galvano was made and all the old dies were discarded except one or two.  Koller considers the first scenario to be the most likely.

Sources and/or recommended reading:
"1877-S Double Eagle Shows Repunched Letter On Reverse" by William T. Gibbs, COIN WORLD, July 13, 2009, p. 82.

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David Akers (1975/88)

The high mintage and "common date" status accorded the 1877-S would naturally lead most people to believe that this date is easily obtained in any grade desired. However, although the 1877-S cannot really be called a rare date, it is also far from common, especially in uncirculated condition. Most known specimens grade from VF to AU. In choice or gem mint state, the 1877-S is rare and almost never available. Overall, this date is much more rare than the 1876-S and is comparable to the 1875-S, 1883-S, 1884-S and 1902-S although it is more rare than any of those dates in mint state.