Heritage World Coin Auctions
CSNS Signature US Coin Sale 1254 26-28 Apr 2017
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High Relief Double Eagles
1907 $20 High Relief, Flat Rim, MS64 NGC. In his 2008 book, Striking Change: The Great Artistic Collaboration of Theodore Roosevelt and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Michael Moran describes Saint-Gaudens' meticulous attention to detail, particularly when it came to arranging drapery:
"He always considered arranging draperies a complicated task. He used certain muslin calicoes that had a little starch in them. After wetting them, he would lay them over the casts, pinning them here and there to give the effect he desired. Once dried, he would go over it all with shellac using a very delicate brush, doing the hollows first to strengthen the rest as he proceeded."
The artist's most famous depictions of drapery are those of the Sherman monument's Victory and of Liberty on the double eagles of 1907 to 1933. The striding figure, torch held high, is a defining image in American numismatics and shown here in High Relief, as originally intended by Saint-Gaudens and Roosevelt. This is an example of the scarcer Flat Rim variety with the fin of metal around the border no longer there. Yellow-gold surfaces emit glowing luster and show few signs of contact.
From The Siegel Collection.
HID02901242017
1907 $20 High Relief, Flat Rim, MS64 NGC. In his 2008 book, Striking Change: The Great Artistic Collaboration of Theodore Roosevelt and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Michael Moran describes Saint-Gaudens' meticulous attention to detail, particularly when it came to arranging drapery:
"He always considered arranging draperies a complicated task. He used certain muslin calicoes that had a little starch in them. After wetting them, he would lay them over the casts, pinning them here and there to give the effect he desired. Once dried, he would go over it all with shellac using a very delicate brush, doing the hollows first to strengthen the rest as he proceeded."
The artist's most famous depictions of drapery are those of the Sherman monument's Victory and of Liberty on the double eagles of 1907 to 1933. The striding figure, torch held high, is a defining image in American numismatics and shown here in High Relief, as originally intended by Saint-Gaudens and Roosevelt. This is an example of the scarcer Flat Rim variety with the fin of metal around the border no longer there. Yellow-gold surfaces emit glowing luster and show few signs of contact.
From The Siegel Collection.
HID02901242017