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The St
Gaudens Double Eagle - A brief history
The
twenty-dollar St Gaudens (or Saint Gaudens) gold
double eagle was
first minted in 1907 by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
Designed by Augustus
Saint-Gaudens (a noted sculptor of
the day) at the request of
President Theodore Roosevelt, the $20 St Gaudens replaced the $20
Liberty
- in circulation since 1850.
A
total of 11,250 high-relief "Saints" were minted in Philadelphia with
a Roman numeral date of MCMVII. Today, these coins
(even circulated coins in Very Good condition) are
worth several thousand dollars. Later in 1907,
flat-relief double eagle Saints
were minted with Arabic numerals (1907) and continued that way until
1933.
"No Motto"
St Gaudens
The
first
St Gaudens gold double eagles were produced without the motto "IN GOD
WE TRUST". A total of of 361,667 "no motto" Saints were
produced in 1907 and
4,271,551 in 1908 by the Philadelphia
Mint. In addition, the Denver
Mint produced 663,750 "no motto" Saints in 1908.
In 1908, the Philadelphia,
Denver and San
Francisco Mints
began producing St Gaudens gold double eagles with the
motto "IN GOD
WE TRUST". This continued until 1933 when on April 5,
1933, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an Executive
Order confiscating most gold from private
ownership for U. S. citizens.
Roughly
70 million (70,000,000) Saint Gaudens gold coins were
minted between 1907 and 1933. About five million
(5,000,000) "no motto"
Saints and 65 million (65,000,000) "IN
GOD WE TRUST" Saints were
minted. No one
knows for sure how many made it into circulation. In the last year they
were minted (1933), none of the 445,500 Saints were
place into circulation.
Saint
Gaudens
Double Eagle - Facts and Details
The
$20 Saint features Standing Lady Liberty on the obverse side . A modified
rendition of this popular design was adopted for the Gold
American Eagle. The reverse features the image of
an eagle in flight amid rays from the sun.
The mint
mark is on the obverse side just above the date. Mint marks are "D" for
the Denver Mint
and "S" for
the San Francisco Mint.
If no mint mark
appears, it was minted by the Philadelphia
Mint.
The Saint Gaudens Lady Liberty design was only used on the $20
double eagles. Eagles ($10), Half-Eagles
($5) and Quarter-Eagles ($2.50) used an Indian Head
design beginning in 1907. More
details on the popular Saint ...
$20
Saint Gaudens Gold Double Eagle
Gold
content= .9675 Troy ounces, Face value=$20.00, Gold purity = .9000,
Gross Weight=1.0750 Troy ounces (33.436 grams), Net weight=.9675 Troy
ounces (30.0925 grams)
These are wonderful gold
coins.
If you are at all interested in owning historic gold coins,
the $20 Saint Gaudens double eagle should be high on your list.
The Saint is
very popular and you can expect to pay a pretty
good premium over spot gold, especially for
uncirculated coins. By shopping
around among several reputable dealers, your
savings can be significant.
If uncirculated Saints are too expensive for
you, look for "lightly" circulated ones. The best circulated
grades would be Very Fine (VF), Extra Fine (XF or EF), or
About
Uncirculated (AU).
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