1907 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle (1907 $20 St. Gaudens) PCGS MS66. This magnificent Saint-Gaudens double eagle is alive with shimmering, satiny luster. Combined with its excellent strike, lovely color, and absent handling marks, the coin is worthy of its grade if not a point higher. Because they were stored for bullion value, often uncirculated coins of this type show bag marks and scratches that hide details of the design.

The present coin is a notable exception. Arabic numerals were used on the double eagles when Charles Barber redesigned the coin. He lowered the relief because the high relief coins required too many strikes and were slow to produce. Because of the many strikes to get the full relief, the Roman numeral coin dies would not have great longevity. In addition, the coins could not be stacked. In order to remedy these faults, Barber lowered the relief. At the same time he changed the date to the Arabic numbers.

The coin depicts Liberty striding toward the viewer holding an olive branch in her left hand and a torch in her right. She is wearing a loose, flowing gown, and her long hair flows behind her. In the background, we see the rays of a rising sun. Forty-six stars surround the edge of the coin, one for each state in the Union at the time. The reverse depicts the magnificent eagle flying to the left above the sun. Above the eagle are the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination.

Saint-Gaudens deliberately left off the motto IN GOD WE TRUST at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt, a deeply religious man, who felt that it was blasphemous to have God’s name inscribed on a coin. However, public sentiment was otherwise, and in 1908 the motto was added.