A Historical View of the High Relief Gold Coin

December 16, 2009 · Posted in Coin Updates

President Roosevelt himself invited Saint-Gaudens to redesign all of our American coins, specifically the United States gold coins, in 1905. What came from this redesign is the most beautiful gold coin ever created in the United States, and maybe even in the world, the 1907 $20 gold coin - colloquially known as the Double Eagle.

On the obverse side, Saint-Gaudens illustrated a beautiful and statuesque personification of Liberty walking forward with a powerful stride. Lady Liberty's robes reflect our government's roots in the idyllic beliefs of Rome and Greece's republican ideals. Liberty has a torch in her forward hand and in her back hand, an olive branch. She leads the way to freedom. This wonderful design really highlights the freedom that forms the basis of the American spirit. Wherever the beautiful Liberty goes, people are inspired by her and peace comes in her wake.

One the reverse, a young eagle is flying in the midst of the sunrise. This is a design that shows off America's strong beginnings, and bright future. Our country's motto, "E Pluribus Unum" runs along the edge of the coin, letting the two designs on each side be clean and free of any unnecessary text. These beautiful elements are the visual representation of America, and this coin is one of the definitive modern American coins.

There were four total variations of this wonderful coin, the 1907 Double Eagle. The first two variations are thought of as ultra high relief - 34mm and 27mm each - and both of these coins have roman numerals. The process of coining the 34 mm coin proved too difficult, and the US Mint would later discover that it didn't have the authority to make the 27mm version of the coin. The third version of the coin took the relief down some, and was struck at 34mm with roman numerals. In December 1907, the fourth and final version of the coin was made, at an even lower relief of 34mm with Arabic numerals.

In spite of Saint-Gaudens' artistic achievement, the resources that were available for minting coins at the time were not enough to be able to create the high relief coins that both he and President Roosevelt wanted. Because of this, the most beautiful coin even created, Saint Gauden's masterpiece coin, was never realized in its full glory as the creator intended it to be.

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