The 1920-S is one of the many double eagles from the 1920s and 1930s that did not escape the melting pot. While 558,000 coins were struck, almost all of them remained in federal vaults until melted down. Only 100 to 150 examples are believed extant in all grades — a survival rate of 0.027% that ranks the 1920-S as the fifth rarest Saint-Gaudens double eagle in terms of total number of survivors. Among collectible issues of this type only the 1921, 1927-D and 1930-S are more challenging to locate than the 1920-S. (The fourth issue that ranks ahead of the 1920-S in rarity is the 1933, a non-collectible date of which only one example is currently in private hands.)

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the August 2014 Chicago ANA Auction, where it realized $111,625.