 1929 Gem Brilliant Uncirculated. Despite a limited number of minor surface ticks, the present coin still warrants the Gem grade and retains wonderful mint freshness so often lacking from the handful known of this date. The lustre shows reddish-copper and vibrant yellow-gold in the fields, and Liberty herself is well preserved with minimal signs of contact. For a 1929 Double Eagle, the present coin is extraordinary in quality, and certainly in the top twenty percent of those known. Identifiable by a minor bagmark extending left from the middle of the upper branch toward Liberty's neck, another similar bagmark connects the eagle's wings below the 'O' of DOLLARS. These are mentioned as hallmarks for this particular coin, not as distractions.
There are perhaps 300-500 coins to represent this date, a meager number indeed. Most are in lower Uncirculated grades, similar to the rare branch mint issues so well represented in this collection. A foremost opportunity for the specialist to obtain one of the key dates to the series in wonderfully original Gem condition.
For collectors of Saint Gaudens Double Eagles, 1929 marks a significant change. The Philadelphia issue of 1928 is abundantly common, constantly available, and reduced nearly to a commodity to represent the type. Although the mintage of the 1929 is roughly half that of the prior year, numbering a total of 1,779,750, a considerably greater percentage was melted. The American economy saw the credit expansion of the 1920's end with a loud report on Black Friday, October 29, 1929. Economic production, sales and purchases had been slowing all year as interest rates finally started to rise, margin requirements for owning stock were dramatically reigned in, forcing many speculators to dump borrowed stock shares. The American stock market crashed on October 29, earning the name ''Black Friday.''
Economic activity and the stock market continued lower for three more painful years. After bottoming out, a slow recovery began which gradualy restored confidence by the end of the 1930's. Overseas shipments of gold were virtually halted by the Depression, which extended quickly into Europe and through the world for the following decade. The Depression continued year after year, collectors of the day were unable to hang on to coins like this, and many were spent or later turned in after 1933 as required by patriotic Americans. All Double Eagles dated 1929 or later are rarities, with few surviving of any date.
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