1907 $20 Saint Gaudens (1907 Saint Gaudens), PCGS MS65. Clean surfaces and bright luster characterize this gem 1907 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle. A couple of small marks in the drapery of the obverse figure of Liberty and the reverse suns rays keep this coin from an even higher mint state grade. The strike is above average on the reverse and a little flat on the upper obverse affecting Libertys face, hand, and the upper stars. Great controversy surrounded the release of the high relief double eagle coins designed by Augusts Saint-Gaudens.

While most agreed as to the beauty of the design, there were practical considerations that mitigated against its continued use. Charles Barber, the Mint Engraver, wrote to the Mint Director, "Upon examination it was found that the relief of the models was so great that it would be a waste of time to make reductions for coinage, as it would be quite impossible to coin when the dies are made." Taken with his responsibility to produce coinage that could be used commercially, Barber began to work on his own low relief version of the Saint-Gaudens design. He completed work on his version of the design, with a greatly lowered relief, and the new coin went into production on a large-scale basis. A total of 361,667 of the revised design were produced by the Mint in 1907; the "Low Relief" coins were released into circulation at the end of December 1907.

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.

The change from the Roman numeral for the date to the Arabic 1907, illustrated the change from classical to commercial. All of the following double eagles were minted in reduced relief and used Arabic numbers for the date. Barber was far more concerned with function rather than form. A review of his efforts would seem to bear out a tendency to produce efficient everyday tools of the economy rather than a collection of object dart to please generations of numismatists.