1931-P Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
Common dateNearly three million were struck and very few survive: this issue sat in Treasury vaults until the recall and was melted almost in its entirety.
Mintage
- Business strikes
- 2,938,250
- Mint
- Philadelphia (no mintmark)
- Mintage rank
- 44 of 52
Rank 1 is the lowest business-strike mintage in the series. Mintage and survival diverge more sharply in this series than anywhere else on the site. Double eagles were held as reserves rather than spent, so large numbers never entered circulation at all, and Executive Order 6102 recalled gold coin in 1933. The Treasury melting that followed destroyed most of what it held, and the issues of the late 1920s and early 1930s were hit hardest because they had barely left the vaults. The 1927-D is the extreme case: 180,000 struck, and a handful known today. Read the mintage here as what was made, never as what is available.
Reading the figure
Among the 24 Philadelphia issues in the series it is the 20th smallest. Of the 3,044,750 struck across all mints in 1931, this issue accounts for 97%. That is 28 times the Denver figure for the same year. The 1931 split ran Philadelphia 2,938,250 and Denver 106,500. The series median is 567,500, so this issue is more than twice as numerous as a typical date. Series-wide output rose sharply that year: 3,044,750 against 74,000 in 1930. In 1931 the coin was struck at Philadelphia and Denver; San Francisco struck none.
Every sentence above is computed from the mintage table on this page, not asserted separately.
About this figure
Survival is far below the mintage for this date. The gold recall of 1933 and the Treasury melting that followed destroyed the great majority of double eagles still in government hands, and the issues of the late 1920s and early 1930s were hit hardest because they had barely entered circulation.
Scarcity tier
Common date
Assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 is a key date, under 2,500,000 is a semi-key.
This is a reproducible label derived from the mintage column, not a market valuation and not a Coin Curator price opinion. The same thresholds apply to every series on this site. Several dates are far harder or far easier to obtain than their mintage implies; where that is true, it is stated above.
Mintage tells you very little in this series. Mintage and survival diverge more sharply in this series than anywhere else on the site. Read the full note on the series page.
What to check before buying
Nothing about this date calls for a check beyond the ones that apply to any certified coin.
And for any certified coin
Verify the certification number on the grading service’s own lookup rather than from a photograph of the label, match the listing images to the certification record including grade and any variety attribution, look for cleaning, compare the mintmark against published photographs of the genuine issue, and read the return policy before buying. The grading guide covers each of these in full.
Coin Curator does not grade, authenticate, or appraise coins, and publishes no price or population data. These are verification steps, not a valuation.
Verify a certification number
Look a 1931-Pcertification number up on the service’s own site. A photograph of a label proves nothing.
Each service publishes its own guarantee with conditions and exclusions. Compare PCGS, NGC and ANACS.
Find a 1931-P for sale
Opens an eBay search for this exact date and mint. Coin Curator does not list inventory, hold stock, or quote prices; verify each listing, seller, and return policy directly.
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Common questions
How many 1931-P Saint-Gaudens double eagles were minted?
The Philadelphia Mint struck 2,938,250 1931-P Saint-Gaudens double eagles for circulation. That is the 44th lowest business-strike mintage of the 52 date and mintmark combinations in the series.
Is the 1931-P Saint-Gaudens double eagle a key date?
Coin Curator labels it a common date, assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 struck is a key date and under 2,500,000 is a semi-key. The same thresholds are used for every series on this site, so the tiers are comparable between them. That label describes production, not market value or how hard the coin is to find today. Nearly three million were struck and very few survive: this issue sat in Treasury vaults until the recall and was melted almost in its entirety.
What should I check before buying a 1931-P Saint-Gaudens double eagle?
Verify the certification number on the grading service's own lookup page, match the listing photographs to the certification record, check for cleaning, and compare the mintmark shape and position against published photographs of the genuine issue.
Why do sources give different mintage figures for the 1931-P?
Survival is far below the mintage for this date. The gold recall of 1933 and the Treasury melting that followed destroyed the great majority of double eagles still in government hands, and the issues of the late 1920s and early 1930s were hit hardest because they had barely entered circulation.
Related dates
Guides for this coin
All guides →Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle: A Collector’s Guide
The most beautiful US coin and one of the most collectible pre-1933 golds. The major types (Ultra High Relief, High Relief, No Motto, With Motto), the famous keys, and how to buy common dates well.
1 min readMarket ContextPre-1933 Gold Coin Collecting and Market Context
Research Saint-Gaudens, Liberty Head, and Indian Head gold by exact type, date, grade, surfaces, current metal value, and coin-specific evidence.
1 min readVintage GuideThe 1933 Double Eagle: A Provenance Lesson
The 1933 Double Eagle combines contested ownership, government litigation, exceptional provenance, and a documented 2021 auction record.
1 min readBuying GuideMS-63 vs MS-65 vs MS-67: Which Grade to Actually Buy
Adjacent grades can carry very different market evidence. Learn how to compare surfaces, eye appeal, population data, and current records before choosing a grade.
1 min readMintage sources
Mintage figures are U.S. Mint production records, cross-checked against the published tables below on 2026-08-02. Where those tables disagree, the disagreement is disclosed on the affected page rather than resolved silently.
- CoinMintages.com, Saint-Gaudens double eagle mintages — Reports the 1907 relief types and the 1908 motto types separately, with proofs listed apart from business strikes.
- Wikipedia, "Saint-Gaudens double eagle" — Mintage table citing Yeoman and Bowers, and the source for the Ultra High Relief being an experimental piece rather than an issue.
- NGC and dealer references, 1909 and 1910-S — Consulted to break the two disagreements between the tables above.
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