1925-S Saint Gaudens - 1925-S $20 St. Gaudens NGC MS61. Here is a Mint State, Western branch mint 1925-S Saint Gaudens Double Eagle. The coin has excellent luster and is clean for the grade. A couple of tiny marks are hidden in the folds of Libertys gown and the reverse sun rays. The coin is a mixture of light and dark yellow gold, and it is well struck. The colors attest to the coins originality. There are full details on the Capitol building and most of the eagles feathers. In general it is an attractive, wholesome piece.

The San Francisco Mint opened in 1854 because of the need to coin gold resulting from the California Gold Rush. In the West there was an abundance of gold bullion, nuggets and dust; however, there was also an acute shortage of circulating coinage. Congress authorized this mint to relieve the shortage and coin silver and gold and because transportation of bullion to Philadelphia was time consuming and hazardous. Because of its proximity to the Gold Rush area, San Francisco was chosen as the site of the new mint.  In 1874 it moved into a new building called the Old United States Mint or the Granite Lady. It is one of the few structures that survived the earthquake of 1906. It remained in service as a mint until 1938, when the present facility opened.

In its first year of operation the Mint made four million dollars in gold coins from bullion. The second building, the Old United States Mint, was designed by Alfred B. Mullett in Greek Revival style. It was built in an E-shape with a central pediment portico. There was a completely enclosed courtyard that had a well. It was these features that saved it in the fire that resulted from the earthquake of 1906. The building was situated on a concrete and granite foundation that was made to prevent tunneling into its vaults. In 1906 there was $300 million, a third of the United States gold reserves, in its vaults. Frank Leach and his men worked heroically to successfully preserve the building and the bullion. The mint was able to resume service and operated until 1937. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Since most of the building was made of sandstone, the nickname of The Granite Lady is a misnomer. Only the basement was made from granite. It was opened to visitors in 1993 and sold to the City of San Francisco for one dollar in 2003 for use as the Museum of the City of San Francisco.
The 1925-S double eagle is a Motto Added type. In 1908 IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the reverse above the rising sun. President Theodore Roosevelt had been opposed to the motto because he felt that considering how a coin could be used, it was blasphemous to have the name of God on it. Coins could fall on the floor and be stepped on. They could be used for gambling or prostitution.  Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the designer, agreed and the two of them planned the double eagle with no motto. In fact the mintages of the first year and half of the second had no motto.

However, Congress disagreed and ordered all coins to adhere to the law that was passed in 1865. In the early part of the Twentieth Century, those who opposed having Gods name on the coinage were probably thought of as anarchists and/or Bolsheviks. Of course, Congress was more concerned with public opinion than the First Amendments principle of separation of church and state, and so the motto was mandated.
It became Charles Barbers responsibility to rework the coin adding the motto. In 1912 the coin was further modified by adding two stars for New Mexico and Arizona, the two newest states. Barber also modified the reverse by changing the tail feathers from eight to nine, and the suns rays from 34 to 33. He also made the heavier rays thinner and some of them longer.

During the Great Recall of 1933-34, there was extensive melting of double eagles. Americans were mandated to turn in their hoards of gold with an exemption of $100 in gold coin per person. Collectors of rare and unusual coins were also allowed to keep their collections, probably because certain government officials had collections of pattern coins. Not only did the act prohibit the hoarding of gold, it prohibited the increasingly extensive speculative activity abroad in foreign exchange [that] has resulted in severe drains on the Nations stocks of gold. As a result, President Franklin Roosevelt declared a national emergency and bank holiday, which he felt would be in the national interest. After confiscation of the coins, there was melting. The coins were made into gold bricks that were deposited in Fort Knox. In the period from 1933 to 1939, 66,383,444 double eagles were melted.