Heritage World Coin Auctions
Long Beach Signature US Coin Sale 1256 8-9 Jun 2017
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High Relief Double Eagles
1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS62 NGC. Augustus Saint-Gaudens is well known for a few monumental sculptures, even though he also produced several hundred lesser works. The snail's pace that he worked on those few well-known sculptures were maddeningly long to the patrons who commissioned them, but his lack of speed is explained as integral to his method of work in his autobiography, edited by his son, Homer, after his death.
"To him a good thing was no better for being done quickly. Change after change should be made if needed to produce what was best. "Conceive an idea," he would say, "Then stick to it. Those who hang on are the only ones who amount to anything."
Even with the ten and twenty dollar gold coins from 1907 the pace was slow and methodical. In each case, the models were essentially complete when President Roosevelt gave him the commission in 1905. But two and a half years of minor adjustments delayed striking of actual coinage, and it wasn't until a month after the sculptor's death that the High Relief twenties actually went into production. Numismatists would certainly agree the results were worth the wait. The High Relief twenties are universally acclaimed the most beautiful U.S. coin. This example displays the usual, reddish patina over each side of the bright, satiny surfaces. A few short contact marks on the obverse explain the grade.
HID02901242017
1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS62 NGC. Augustus Saint-Gaudens is well known for a few monumental sculptures, even though he also produced several hundred lesser works. The snail's pace that he worked on those few well-known sculptures were maddeningly long to the patrons who commissioned them, but his lack of speed is explained as integral to his method of work in his autobiography, edited by his son, Homer, after his death.
"To him a good thing was no better for being done quickly. Change after change should be made if needed to produce what was best. "Conceive an idea," he would say, "Then stick to it. Those who hang on are the only ones who amount to anything."
Even with the ten and twenty dollar gold coins from 1907 the pace was slow and methodical. In each case, the models were essentially complete when President Roosevelt gave him the commission in 1905. But two and a half years of minor adjustments delayed striking of actual coinage, and it wasn't until a month after the sculptor's death that the High Relief twenties actually went into production. Numismatists would certainly agree the results were worth the wait. The High Relief twenties are universally acclaimed the most beautiful U.S. coin. This example displays the usual, reddish patina over each side of the bright, satiny surfaces. A few short contact marks on the obverse explain the grade.
HID02901242017