Only 34,000 Double Eagles left San Francisco in 1913, one of the smallest gold outputs of the entire Saint-Gaudens run. Most of those coins went into bank vaults and were later melted, so the date is far tougher today than its original mintage alone suggests. The 1913-S sits in the middle of the series chronologically, yet it ranks with the genuinely scarce issues collectors must plan for when building a date set. Survivors in Mint State are limited, and the small S mintmark beside the date is the detail that separates this coin from the common Philadelphia issues of the same year.

The obverse carries Liberty striding forward with a torch in one hand and an olive branch in the other, with the Capitol dome and sun rays behind her. Forty-eight stars ring the border on this 1912-and-later design, and the date stands bold at the lower right with the mintmark just below it. The reverse shows an eagle in flight above a radiant sun, and IN GOD WE TRUST sits in the arc below, a motto restored to the series in late 1908. Detail is well defined across Liberty's gown and the eagle's wing feathers, with strong device definition on both sides.

PCGS graded this Double Eagle MS-63, with warm orange-gold color and satiny luster across both faces. The surfaces show the light scattered marks expected at the grade, yet the fields stay bright and the eye appeal is above average for a San Francisco strike. Choice Mint State is a meaningful level for this date, since so many 1913-S coins that survived circulation show rub or heavy bagging from vault storage. A welcome addition to any set of pre-1933 United States gold or a date-run of Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles.

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