1907 High Relief (1907 $20 High Relief) Wire Rim, NGC PF64. This proof, 1907 High Relief, Saint-Gaudens double eagle, for many is the quintessence of American coinage. The excellent, clean surfaces are and mark free devices make the case for a gem grade. Mint luster shimmers on both sides as if a sun were shining from the top. The strike is full and sharp, especially in the centers.

Many consider the Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1907 high relief Roman Numerals double eagle to be the most beautiful United States coin ever made. Reminiscent of the coins of ancient Greece, these coins were designed by Saint-Gaudens at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt, his friend. Roosevelt felt that the contemporary coinage was atrociously hideous. He had what he called his pet crime. Now that he was president, he could get rid of the ordinary look of the current coinage and fulfill his dream of having a national coinage that would be both beautiful and dignified. Saint-Gaudens, who created his 1905 Inauguration Medal, agreed. Whatever I produce cannot be worse than the inanities now displayed on our coins. Unfortunately, Saint-Gaudens was in failing health and never lived to see his new double eagles in circulation. He died on August 3, 1907. It fell to Henry Hering, Saint-Gaudens student and assistant, to reduce the twelve inch high reliefs of Saint-Gaudens concept to coin size. Then President Roosevelt had to intervene to get the reluctant and jealous Charles Barber to complete the dies for the High Relief coins.

The setting for the obverse was taken from Saint-Gaudens' Victory, a sculpture that is part of the Sherman Monument in New York City's Central Park. The coin depicts Liberty striding toward the viewer as if she is ready to step out of the coin. She is holding an olive branch in her left hand and a torch in her right, lighting the way to freedom as dawn rises over the capitol. She is wearing a loose, flowing gown that exposes her arms and her left knee and leg, and her long hair flows to the side. The Capitol building is shown at the lower left. Behind her are thirteen rays of the sunburst. The date in Roman numerals is on the right, below the olive branch. LIBERTY is in an arc at the top border. Forty-six stars surround the edge of the coin, one for each state in the Union at the time. On the reverse, Saint-Gaudens placed a large, majestic eagle soaring to the left above the rising sun. Above the eagle in two arcs are the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination. Saint-Gaudens had placed the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM on the coins edge thus reducing the clutter on the obverse and reverse and reinforcing their clean, open look.

Saint-Gaudens deliberately left off the motto IN GOD WE TRUST at the request of President Roosevelt, a religious man who felt that it was blasphemous to have Gods name inscribed on a coin. He did not wish the name of Lord on coins to be passed around brothels, saloons, gambling halls or used for other immoral purposes.

When President Roosevelt first saw the design, he knew that his friend had created a coin that would be admired by all. What he did not know, however, was that a quarter-century later, his cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, would confiscate all privately-owned gold, and most of these beautiful coins would be melted into gold bars.