The Saint Gaudens double eagle is considered one of the most beautiful coins in the world. President Theodore Roosevelt did not believe that our gold coins accurately represented our great nation. In 1905, he enlisted the most famous sculpture of the time, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to design a coin that captured America’s beauty. The coin features Liberty draped in Romanesque clothing, holding a torch and an olive branch. The reverse features an eagle in flight. The first year of issue in 1907 featured a high relief design with each coin receiving five blows from the Mint’s hydraulic press. The public loved these new coins which immediately were selling for $30 a piece however the banks were not fond of the new coins as the high relief coins would not stack. During that same year the Saint Gaudens double eagles were struck in regular relief and remained that way until 1933.
