1900

Among the most plentiful issues of the entire Coronet series, this Philadelphia Type 3 Double Eagle entered circulation just as Congress codified the metal it carried. President McKinley signed the Gold Standard Act on March 14, 1900, formally tying the dollar to a fixed weight of gold and ending more than two decades of bimetallic agitation. Production at the main mint surged in step with that legislative confidence, and survivors are abundant at virtually every grade through MS64. The strike on most examples is crisp, with sharp definition on Liberty's coronet, the upper hair curls, and the eagle's wing feathers, traits that distinguish Philadelphia output from the often softer San Francisco coinage of the same year.

Population data confirms the date's status as one of the two or three most common in the series. PCGS-graded examples appear in the thousands across MS60 through MS64, but the curve steepens sharply at gem; MS65 coins are notably scarcer, and the auction record stands at $17,423 for an MS66 specimen sold by Heritage Auctions on January 12, 2005, a result that has gone unchallenged for two decades. Heritage and Stack's Bowers continue to handle the date in volume, with mid-grade Mint State pieces typically trading near melt plus a modest numismatic premium. Cabinet friction on the cheek and obverse fields is the usual gating factor between MS63 and MS65.

A separate proof issue of 124 pieces was struck for collectors, executed with the brilliant cameo finish standard for the era; these survive in roughly half their original number and rarely appear outside major sales. The contrast with neighboring dates is instructive: 1899 produced 1,669,384 and 1901 collapsed to 111,526, making the 1901 nearly seventeen times scarcer despite sitting in the same cabinet space. Collectors building a Type 3 set generally use a 1900 Philadelphia coin as their high-grade anchor while saving budget for the genuinely tough San Francisco and Carson City branch issues. For broader background on the design, denomination, and Mint history, see the Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.