| The $20 Saint-Gaudens
Double Eagle, produced from 1907 to 1933, is widely considered to be one
of the most beautiful coins ever produced in the United States. In 1905,
President Theodore Roosevelt invited Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of
America's greatest sculptors, to redesign America's $10 and $20 gold
coins. Saint-Gaudens' designs were patterned after the coinage of ancient
Greece.
The design of the obverse of the Double Eagle shows
a flowing full-length figure of Liberty holding a torch in one hand and an
olive branch in the other. Rays of sunlight burst from the bottom of the
design. 46 stars ring the coin, representing the states in the union at
the time. On the reverse of the coin, an eagle flies above a sun whose
rays extend upward. The word LIBERTY appears on the front of the coin, in
a semi-circle between the Liberty figure and the stars at the edge of the
coin. The reverse of the coin originally contained only the phrases UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA, and TWENTY DOLLARS. E PLURIBUS UNUM was placed along
the outer edge of the coin, and the phrase "In God We Trust" was
intentionally omitted. The phrase appears just above the sun in coins
minted from late 1908 on, at the insistence of Congress. As collectibles,
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles are highly prized, and rather expensive.
As an anomalous example of just how expensive a coin
can be, the single surviving Double Eagle from 1933 was sold at auction by
the US Government for over $7 million, making it the most valuable gold
coin in the world. |