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The rarity of a coin relates to the number of examples that have survived. A high mintage figure (meaning that lots of copies of a coin were made) doesn’t necessarily mean low rarity — or vice versa. The reported mintage figure for a 1927-D $20 gold piece, for example, is 180,000 pieces, which is fairly high, but this coin ranks as one of the all-time-great rarities in the series. Why? Experts suspect that most examples of this date were destroyed before they were released into circulation. On the other hand, a 1913-S $20 has a small reported mintage of only 34,000 pieces, yet there’s little or no premium attached to this coin in circulated condition. Why? Almost the entire mintage survived. In some cases, mintage figures may be incorrect or may include coins from an earlier or later year.

Don’t rely on mintage figures alone to determine the rarity of a particular coin.