Business Strike:

From a mintage of just 168,780 pieces, one of the lowest among circulation strike Saint-Gaudens double eagles. The 1913 is obtainable with ease in all but the finest Mint State grades, nonetheless, but it is scarce by the standards of this popular 20th century type.

Proof Strike:

Records indicate that the Philadelphia Mint struck 99 Proof double eagles in 1913, though just 58 coins were distributed due to the declining interest in the satin (a.k.a. "Roman Gold") and sandblast (a.k.a. "matte") finishes used to strike coins of this type since the series' inception in 1907. The finish used to strike the 1913 issue is actually unique within the Proof Saint-Gaudens double eagle series, being a bit coarser than that used for the Proof 1911 and Proof 1912 yet a bit more fine than the finish seen in the typical Proof 1914 and Proof 1915.

The 1913 is the sixth rarest of 10 Proof Saint-Gaudens double eagle issues in today's market, surpassing the 1907 High Relief, 1908 Motto, 1910 and 1912 in this regard. Survival estimates have evolved significantly over the past several decades, as more examples have emerged from old collections and the issue has been studies in detail by scholars. In 1988, gold specialist David Akers remarked that "Proofs of 1913 are very rare; at most 20-25 are known." Q. David Bowers was more conservative when writing in 2004, suggesting that only 12 to -15 coins survived. More recent research by John W. Dannreuther (2018) indicates that 35 to 45 distinct specimens remain, though most of these are in grades of Proof-65 and lower.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the August 2021 Rosemont ANA Auction, where it realized $336,000.