1930-S Saint-Gaudens $20: The Melted San Francisco Date
Coin Encyclopedia · 9 min read · Published November 7, 2026
Seventy-four thousand. That is the mintage of the 1930-S Saint-Gaudens double eagle — 74,000 coins struck at San Francisco in 1930, and the last double eagle the city ever struck. Nearly all of them were melted after the gold recall, and the survivors are few. The 1930-S is a rare date hiding in a modest mintage, the final San Francisco date of the most collected $20 series in American history, and a coin that most collectors will never hold. If you think you have one, read this whole page before you do anything else.
This page is about that number. The 1930-S is a Saint-Gaudens double eagle designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, struck at San Francisco in 1930, in the last years before the Depression and the gold recall closed the book on circulating $20 gold. Our guide has not yet researched grade-by-grade figures for this date, so the table below is empty. The history is not.
74,000 struck, nearly all melted
The mintage is 74,000, struck at San Francisco in 1930. That sounds like a scarce coin, but not a rare one. It is a rare one. Three years after these coins were struck, the United States recalled its gold coinage, and the government melted its stocks. The 1930-S double eagles, being among the newest gold coins in the vaults, were melted in large numbers. The coins that survived were the ones already in private hands — in collections, in safe-deposit boxes, overseas — beyond the reach of the melting pot.
This is the same story as the 1927-D and the 1921, but on a smaller scale and with a different ending. The 1930-S did circulate, briefly, before the recall. Some wore down in commerce. Some were saved. But the mintage figure is a poor guide to how many exist today, and the rarity of the date is the proof: a coin with 74,000 struck does not behave like an ordinary date unless the survivors are few.
For collectors, the lesson is simple: mintage is not rarity. Rarity is what survives, in what grade, and how many people want it. The 1930-S is the final San Francisco date of the Saint-Gaudens series, and final dates are the ones set builders cannot skip. Demand is fixed and high. Supply was melted ninety years ago. The grade table below is empty, and the history is the reason.
The grade table, still to be researched
The table below is our researched collector estimates from the live guide, reviewed November 5, 2026. Grades our guide has not researched yet are shown as “—”, not guessed. For this date, that is every grade. No grade-by-grade figures are catalogued yet, so the table below is a statement of what we do not yet know, not a set of numbers to lean on.
| Grade | Estimated value |
|---|---|
| Good (G-4) | — |
| Fine (F-12) | — |
| Extremely Fine (XF-40) | — |
| About Uncirculated (AU-50) | — |
| Mint State 60 (MS-60) | — |
| Mint State 65 (MS-65) | — |
An empty table on a rare date can feel wrong, and it is worth saying why it is there. The grade table is built from researched figures, and the research has not reached this date yet. That does not make the coin common, and it does not make it cheap. It makes it unresearched, and the honest figure for it comes from the coin in hand, graded by a professional, and from the live feed on this page when newly reported results land. No one should quote you a figure for a 1930-S from a guide alone.
The last San Francisco double eagle
The 1930-S is the last double eagle struck at San Francisco before the series ended. San Francisco struck no double eagles in 1931, 1932, or 1933, and the 1930-S is the final San Francisco date of the series. That position matters. Final dates are the ones set builders cannot skip, and the 1930-S is the final date for every collector building a San Francisco set, and for every collector building a complete Saint-Gaudens set.
The San Francisco Mint had been striking double eagles since 1854, when it opened to coin the gold of the California gold rush. By 1930 it was a mature mint, striking the coinage the West used every day, and the double eagle was one of its regular products. The 1930-S came off those presses in the last years before the Depression changed everything, and it became the final San Francisco double eagle by accident — not by design, but because the series ended three years later, and no more were ever struck.
That is the demand. San Francisco collectors need it. Saint-Gaudens collectors need it. Final-date collectors need it. And every one of them is chasing the survivors of a mintage that was mostly melted, in a series where every date is wanted. The result is a coin that trades rarely, through established channels, with certification, at figures that reflect its position.
The S on the front
The Saint-Gaudens double eagle carries its mint mark on the obverse, above the date, below Liberty's feet — not on the reverse, where most coins carry it. That is the first thing to find on a 1930-S. Turn the coin over to the obverse, find Liberty striding toward the sun, and look above the date, below her feet. The S is there, small and plain, and it is the difference between a common Philadelphia double eagle and the final San Francisco date of the series.
A genuine S has the right shape, the right depth, and the right position. It sits in the same place on every genuine 1930-S, because it was punched into the die in the same place. An added S sits slightly off, or too shallow, or at the wrong angle, and the metal around it often shows tool marks. The 1930-S is a rare date, so it attracts fakes, and the check is the same as on every Saint-Gaudens date: compare against a known genuine example, and if anything looks wrong, stop. The S is the coin. If the S is wrong, the coin is wrong.
Specs and the metal floor
The 1930-S Saint-Gaudens double eagle weighs 33.436 grams and measures 34 millimetres across, struck in 90% gold and 10% copper. It holds 0.9675 troy ounces of pure gold — nearly a full ounce, the largest gold content of any regular United States coin. The specification is the same for every Saint-Gaudens double eagle from 1907 to 1933. If you have handled any $20 gold coin, the 1930-S feels identical in the hand: heavy, broad, and unmistakably gold.
Metal floor: — The live melt figure on this site is calculated only for the $1 gold dollar, whose specification the Worker carries. Larger gold — $2.50, $5, $10 and $20 — has no live melt specification yet, so this page shows “—” for the metal floor rather than a computed figure. The weight above is the honest check: a genuine coin matches it, and a light coin is not genuine.
Weigh it first. A genuine double eagle is 33.436 grams, and a counterfeit in base metal will be far too light. Then measure it: 34 millimetres, with a lettered edge reading E PLURIBUS UNUM that is sharp and even all the way round. Then look at the design under a loupe — Saint-Gaudens' Liberty has crisp drapery and a clean torch, the eagle's feathers are sharp, and the S is in the correct position above the date. A cast copy looks soft, with mushy details and tiny bubbles in the fields. On a rare date, those three checks are the beginning, not the end: certification is where the figure is settled.
Latest reported results for this coin
Checking for newly reported results…
Your 1930-S double eagle questions, answered
What is a 1930-S Saint-Gaudens double eagle worth?
Our guide has not yet researched grade-by-grade figures for this date, so the grade table below shows — for every grade. As a rare date of the Saint-Gaudens series, with nearly all of its mintage melted, it is a valued coin in any grade, and a professional grade is the only reliable way to value one.
Why is the 1930-S rare if 74,000 were struck?
Nearly all of the mintage was melted after the gold recall, when the government melted its stocks of gold coinage. The number struck says little about how many survive, and the 1930-S is one of the dates that lost the most.
Was the 1930-S the last San Francisco double eagle?
It was the last double eagle struck at San Francisco before the series ended. San Francisco struck no double eagles in 1931, 1932, or 1933, and the 1930-S is the final San Francisco date of the series.
Where is the mint mark on a 1930-S double eagle?
The S is on the obverse, above the date, below Liberty's feet — the Saint-Gaudens double eagle carries its mint mark on the front, not the back. It is small, and it must be checked under a loupe.
How do I check a 1930-S double eagle?
Weigh it at 33.436 grams and measure 34 millimetres, then examine the S mint mark on the obverse and the design under a loupe. On a rare date, certification from PCGS or NGC is strongly advised.
Check your 1930-S
A 1930-S is 74,000 struck, nearly all melted, and the last San Francisco date of its series. Weigh it, find the S on the front, and let a grader settle the rest. Run the date and mint mark through the free Coin Value Checker for an instant estimate, or get a Grade-or-Not verdict on whether your coin is worth certifying. The full gold guide is here: Gold Dollar Coin Values by Type and Date.
For learning only: this guide is educational, and the figures here are researched estimates, not a promise of what any single coin will bring. A 1930-S should be authenticated and graded by professionals before any decision is made.
This guide is for education — learn the coin first, and get a professional opinion before buying or selling.