MCMVII (1907) Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. High Relief. Wire Rim. MS-63 (PCGS). CAC.Splendid golden-yellow surfaces are fully lustrous with a soft satin texture throughout. The strike is full, allowing ready appreciation of this classic 20th century design. This is a beautiful High Relief double eagle that will appeal to advanced type and date collectors alike.<p>President Theodore Roosevelt felt that the nations coinage was saddled with designs of "atrocious hideousness." As one of his first actions after being inaugurated as president, Roosevelt invited sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to help revitalize Americas money by redesigning the two highest denominations, the eagle and double eagle. Saint-Gaudens devised several concepts for the double eagle and finally settled on a design featuring an obverse modeled after his Winged Nike sculpture featured on the General William Tecumseh Sherman Memorial in New York. He paired it with a reverse centered on a graceful flying eagle surmounting a field of rays. Labeling the effort as his "pet crime," Roosevelt bypassed the bureaucratic red tape of government committees, congressional approval, and the stifling rigidity of Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber and directed the Mint to produce these coins with the high relief features intact. Saint-Gaudens prepared models out of his studio in Cornish, New Hampshire for the Ultra High Relief double eagles. By now, the artist was seriously ill, so when it was determined that the Ultra High Relief designs were unfeasible for full scale production because of the special care required to strike each piece, it was his assistant Henry Hering who modified the designs to the High Relief format. Saint-Gaudens would not live to see his creation in commerce; he died on August 3, 1907 from cancer.<p>Even with Herings adjustments, technical aspects continued to hinder mass production. In order to bring up the three dimensional nature of the design, each coin required at a minimum three to five strikes, followed by in-hand inspection by Mint employees. As a result, only 12,367 examples were struck for circulation in the High Relief format. Of those, at least two-thirds are of the Wire Rim variety, a feature that is actually not intended as part of the overall design but rather is a result of the coining process. Metal would be pushed into the area where the coins edge and collar meet if the collar was not tightened sufficiently; the tiniest misalignment of the dies in this circumstance was sufficient to form the "fin." Later, a second collar was designed that largely eliminated the wire rim, but the production process remained too slow to be economically feasible. The relief was dramatically lowered later in the year and production could finally ramp up to the desired level.<p>The High Relief double eagles became instant classics of American numismatics and were eagerly sought even at the time of issue. It is estimated that half of the total mintage still exists. Today, the design is frequently lauded as one of the most beautiful ever produced in the United States Mint, and it is a perennial favorite among collectors. This lovely Choice Mint State example is a beautiful representative of Saint-Gaudens artistry.From the Beasley Collection.
