Unnamed set - 149163
2008-W P$100 BURNISHED

Owner Comments:

This coin is the rarest 1 ounce type coin issued to the general public by the U.S. Mint since the matte proof Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle was discontinued in 1915. Like its fractional siblings, it is the child of the 2008 mintage crash. The Mint struck 5,084 coins, but only 2,876 were deemed of high enough quality to be sold to the public. For most of our coinage history, the Mint had a policy of limited design change and “sameness” across denominations. Thirty- to 60-year production runs with basically the same design were common. Even with very low survival rates and in many cases low annual mintages, the surviving mint state type populations of most coins in the last 200 years are frequently higher than 3,000 coins, according to estimates of classic coin scholars such as Q. David Bowers. While short production cycles don’t ensure a design will achieve significant type rarity, it certainly does help, and a high scrap rate on top of very few coins struck is a beautiful thing. This $ 100 coin is so blessed. The main thing holding this Judicial reverse Eagle and its series back in both proof and mint state form is that it’s struck on platinum instead of gold, and the high material content of the series makes it costly to pursue. Only well financed collectors with an eye for that which is rare and out of the ordinary consider pursuing these coins, but those who do find them one of the most physically impressive and interesting collections offered in the last 100 years.

Jordan, Eric; Maben, John (2012-05-10). Top 50 Most Popular Modern Coins (Kindle Locations 905-917). F+W Media, Inc.. Kindle Edition.