The 1907 Extremely High Relief Inverted Edge Letters Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle PCGS PR 69 is the Professional Grading Service’s (PCGS) Coin of the Month.
The debates will continue for time immemorial as to which coin should be declared the most popular, the most significant, or the most desirable for collectors or investors. But there is little arguing that the Saint-Gaudens double eagle is the most beautiful, certainly among the body of United States gold coinage. Perhaps the most beautiful among those large gold coins, in production from 1907 through 1933 and bearing the denomination $20, is the 1907 Extremely High Relief Inverted Edge $20, which was among the earliest emissions of the gold-type coin designed by renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
A Notably Rare Coin
While the Saint-Gaudens double eagle was struck for a quarter century and saw terrific output numbering into the tens of millions, the 1907 Extremely High Relief Inverted Edge Letters is notably rare for many reasons. For one, very few were made. U.S. Mint coiners deemed it impractical to strike the Saint-Gaudens double eagles in high-relief format, as the artist had intended, at scale. Such strikes were tough on the dies and relatively laborious to produce. The relief was soon lowered on the Saint-Gaudens double eagle, making the coin more practical to strike in mass for circulation.
It is believed about 20 specimens of the 1907 proofs with extremely high relief exist, about a quarter of these being held in institutions. This means that competition is fierce for the balance that remains obtainable among private collectors, who pay hand over fist to acquire one on the rare occasion one appears at auction. An impeccable specimen graded Proof-69 by Professional Coin Grading Service and once held by great collectors Louis Eliasberg and Harry Bass crossed the block for $4,320,000 in an August 2023 Heritage Auctions offering.
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