1908 No Motto $20 St Gaudens Double Eagle NGC MS 63

Product Description

A 1908 No Motto St. Gaudens Double Eagle $20 gold piece graded MS-63 by NGC. This piece displays a beautiful gold tone and vibrant original luster. Total mintage for this date/mintmark/variety: 4,271,551.

The $20 St.Gaudens Double Eagle gold piece is the largest denomination of gold coinage the United States Mint produced from 1907-1933.  Named after its designer Augustus Saint Gaudens, he was commissioned by president Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.  The primary motive behind Roosevelt’s request was to “beautify America’s coinage”.  Coincidentally, Saint Gaudens design not only won the approval of Roosevelt, but the entire country, and has been appropriately titled “America’s Most Beautiful Coin”.  The $20 St. Gaudens Double Eagle features Liberty holding a torch & olive branch, while the sun’s rays and U.S. capitol building are in the background.  The reverse depicts an eagle in flight with the sun’s rays in the background just like the obverse.  Saint Gaudens initial design consisted of a high relief obverse and reverse, and the date in roman numerals, however after his death in 1907, plans were made to redesign the coin to lower the relief, as it became impractical for circulation strikes.  Three varieties exist within the St. Gaudens pattern, with countless more specimens in existence for the 1907.  Each Saint Gaudens $20 Double Eagle followed the same parameters as the previous $20 Liberty Head design: .900 gold, .100 copper, a net weight of .96750 pure gold, total weight of 33.436 grams and featured a 34mm diameter.  In addition, the original 46 stars on the obverse changed in 1912 to 48 stars with the admission of New Mexico and Arizona to the Union.