1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS64 NGC....

Description

Remarkable 1907 High Relief Twenty
Wire Rim Variant, MS64

1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS64 NGC. Augustus Saint-Gaudens' ten and twenty dollar gold designs were subjected to numerous delays and revisions. The coins or plaster models were in some state of conception or execution from early 1905, when President Roosevelt first exhorted the sculptor to take on the project, until Saint-Gaudens' death from stomach cancer in August 1907. Even after his death, the revisions continued under the watchful eye of his assistant, Henry Hering.
The primary reason for the long design and production period lay in Saint-Gaudens' enormous popularity. As early as 1881, his French friend Paul Bion described him as "drowning in work ... a sort of 'Edisson' [sp.] of sculpture, combining, constructing, producing treasure on treasure." While Saint-Gaudens was working on the designs for the gold coins from 1905 to 1907, he also had other commissions. The John Dryfhout book on Saint-Gaudens' oeuvre shows that the sculptor completed numerous other works during the two-plus years that the coinage redesign was under way.
This High Relief is a wonderful example of what is undoubtedly the most widely recognized of all of Saint-Gaudens' works. The surfaces are bright and satiny, as one would expect, with yellow-gold the dominant color but a slight presence of reddish patina also is noted on each side. The striking details are exceptionally sharp with complete separation of the letters from the rim at the top of the reverse. A few faint freckles of copper alloy can barely be made out on the obverse.(Registry values: N7079)

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.

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