1907 $20.00 High Relief Wire Rim (1907 High Relief) NGC PF66 This 1907 High Relief Wire Rim, proof double eagle is everything a coin of its stature should be. The coin is full of booming mint luster and has no visible imperfections on its magnificent surfaces, as expected for a superb gem proof piece. The striking details are fully brought up on both sides. For many this coin represents the ultimate in aesthetic beauty for a United States coin. The high relief Roman numerals double eagle is reminiscent of the coins of ancient Greece. They were designed by Augustus 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. The crime would be to bypass the banal Charles Barber, the Mint Engraver, and enlist an outside talent to create a coin that is also a work of art. 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 Ultrahigh Relief coin. In February, the first few proof, double thick coins were struck, each requiring seven blows to bring up the relief. The dies broke after three lettered-edge and one plain-edge coins were struck. After the relief was lowered, about two dozen proof pattern coins were struck. One is known without edge lettering, and one has the letters inverted. All of these early strikes are considered the Ultrahigh Relief double eagles. After Saint-Gaudens succumbed to stomach cancer, Hering attempted to reduce the relief of the coins and put them into production. At each step of the way, he was opposed by Charles Barber, who felt the coin was simply impractical. Once again, President Roosevelt intervened. He directed that a second set of dies be used to strike coins, directly ordering the Mint to "begin the new issue, even if it takes you all day to strike one piece! and 12,367 mint state High Relief coins were struck. Included in the production number is a small number of proof coins. The mint state coins received five blows each to bring up the relief; however, even the multiple blows failed to bring up all the details of the devices. Proof coins received six or seven blows from the dies. The fields on these coins are satin finish, similar to the early proof Lincoln cents.

Details on these coins are much sharper than those on ordinary production coins. Barber claimed that only five were struck, but that was not true because he owned seven or more himself. Many had a raised knife rim or flange, known as a wire edge. The wire edge was around half or more of one or both sides of the coin because metal was squeezed between the collar and the die. The mint considered this an undesirable characteristic and modified the collar slightly. Coins from the subsequent productions runs after the thin, irregular fin of metal was eliminated are known as the flat rim variety. They command a slight premium over the wire rim pieces. These coins were not subjected to the same chemical bath of a nitric acid solvent prior to striking that their ultra high relief counterparts were. Rather than the bright and somewhat reflective gold surface, the high relief issues typically feature a satin like luster and a slightly more reddish-yellow tint to the gold. The high relief double eagle is estimated to have taken a total of twelve minutes per coin to produce with its several trips through the medal press and the annealing furnace.

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, a symbol of peace, in her left hand and a torch, representing enlightenment, 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, seen slightly from below, 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.

In January 1908, Roosevelt wrote to his friend and advisor, Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow: I am very much pleased that you like that coin. I shall have all kinds of trouble over it, but I do feel what you say is true: that it is the best coin that has been struck for two thousand years, and that no matter what is its temporary fate, it will serve as a model for future coin makers, and that eventually the difficulties in connection with making such coins will be surmounted.

All proof gold is rare, and this is especially true for high relief double eagles. In its population report NGC shows 9 Wire Rims in PF66 with 13 better.