1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim, MS66 PCGS....

Click the image to load the highest resolution version.

Sold on Apr 30, 2025 for:

$90,000.00 Bid Source: Internet bidder

Get one of these:

Share this lot

Track Item Printable Auction Results

Sell One of These

Description

Auction Info

Guides & Info

Description

1907 Wire Rim High Relief Twenty Dollar, MS66
'A Constant Struggle to Achieve in
Actuality What He Conceived in His Imagination'

1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim, MS66 PCGS. It is fair to ask why it took Augustus Saint-Gaudens two and a half years to bring his High Relief double eagle into coin form. One reason is the number of other sculptural projects that were competing for his limited time. The other, and undoubtedly more important reason, is best explained by author Kathryn Greenthal:

"Saint-Gaudens's own approach to his work reveals his constant struggle to achieve in actuality what he conceived of in his imagination. He seems rarely to have been entirely satisfied with anything he did; on the few occasions when he was, he usually changed his mind sometime afterward. He worked and reworked sketches and models in quest of the perfection that at least in his own mind always eluded him."

This constant revisionism is seen also in his ten and twenty dollar gold pieces. What Saint-Gaudens was satisfied with for a circulating double eagle was what we now call the Ultra High Relief. It was only with the help of his assistant, Henry Hering, that the relief could be lowered to at least Hering's satisfaction (Saint-Gaudens was dying of cancer by this time), and also meet the requirements of President Roosevelt for something that approached the coinage of the ancient Greeks. Mint personnel had different requirements for circulating coinage. Their most prominent requirement was that the coin be fully struck with one pass through a steam press. What both sides settled on (at the president's urging) was a compromise of slightly lowered relief that required three passes through a hydraulic press, and a severely limited mintage. The results were spectacular and the High Relief double eagle is a touchstone of art incorporated into coin form. This coin is the embodiment of that striving for perfection. The surfaces are bright and satiny with an almost complete wire rim encircling each side. As one would expect, there are no noticeable or mentionable contact marks on either side. Population: 81 in 66 (4 in 66+), 25 finer (3/25).
Ex: Central States Signature (Heritage, 4/2021), lot 5203.(Registry values: N10218)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 26F2, PCGS# 9135, Greysheet# 10131)

Weight: 33.44 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper

Note for clients in the European Union: This lot is considered by the European Union to be “investment gold”. We believe that it meets the criteria established in Article 344(1), point (2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC and thus should be exempt from import VAT regardless of the selling price. Any questions or concerns about VAT should be addressed to your accountant or local tax authority.

View Certification Details from PCGS