1907 $20 Saint Gaudens (1907 Saint Gaudens), PCGS MS65. This outstanding gem 1907 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle is clean and lustrous. In fact the luster brightens the devices with a smoldering glow. A couple of minor contact marks hidden in the drapery keep this coin from an even higher mint state grade. The strike is average on both sides. There is some obverse central weakness.

The reverse shows weakness on the suns rays. The coin, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, shows Liberty holding a torch in one hand, representing enlightenment, and an olive branch, a symbol of peace, in the other. She strides across a rocky outcrop; behind her are the Capitol building and the rays of the sun. The figure is surrounded by 46 stars, one for each of the states in 1907. The reverse is a side view of a flying eagle, seen slightly from below, with a rising sun and its rays behind it. The edge bears the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Saint-Gaudens felt he could not place a third line of text on the reverse without unbalancing the composition, and the obverse lacked room for the motto, so it was placed on the edge.

After several versions of the design for the double eagle proved too difficult to strike, Barber modified Augustus Saint-Gaudens's design, lowering the relief so the coin could be struck with only one blow. All of the 1907 double eagles, the ultrahigh relief, the high relief, and the Barber modified low relief have the basic design in common. They also have in common the omission of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. Roosevelt wanted this left off because he considered it blasphemous to write the name of God on money, since it could be spent for immoral purposes. When the coins were finally released, they proved controversial as they lacked the motto and Congress intervened to require the its addition in 1908.

The modifications made the coin more suitable for the mass production of millions of coins. 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. In sharp contrast, the low relief design that replaced it could be struck at the rate of eighty coins per minute on the regular coining presses.