1908 $20.00 Saint-Gaudens, Wells Fargo, PCGS MS67. This Superb Gem Uncirculated 1908 Saint-Gaudens double eagle shimmers with glorious mint luster and comes with the provenance of the Wells Fargo Hoard. Many No Motto double eagles of this date are often lightly struck; however, the present specimen is well struck with full details on Libertys bosom, the Capitol building and its immediate area, the feathers on the eagle, and the top of the wings. A few trivial abrasion marks hidden in the drapery or the eagles wings keep this lovely piece from an even higher Mint State grade. The surfaces are original and well preserved as expected for a coin of this grade.

Low Relief Saint-Gaudens double eagles, modified by Charles Barber, were issued in 1907 and 1908. All of the 1907 and most of the 1908 coins are No Motto pieces as is the present coin. Low relief coins with Arabic numerals for the date continued until 1933, when all gold production stopped. In 1908, despite President Roosevelts preferences to the contrary, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the reverse. In 1912 two stars were added to the obverse of the coin to correspond with the new states added to the Union.

The 1907 No Motto double eagle was the first coin issued that was redone according to Charles Barbers wishes. Barber was the Mint Engraver in whom President Theodore Roosevelt had no confidence when the president asked Saint-Gaudens to design the new coinage. His pet crime was that he would bypass the mundane Barber for a real artist who was capable of transforming the national coinage. The design that Saint-Gaudens developed was so outstanding that even with the modifications that Barber made as seen in the present coin, the creativity of the artist still is evident. In fact this design, with modifications, is still in use today in the American Eagle Gold bullion program.

The coin shows Liberty standing on a rocky summit, her left foot planted on a rock that is higher than the rest. The wind blows her dress and hair. Stylized sun rays are seen behind her full-length figure. She holds a large torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left. Above her is LIBERTY. The date is to the right of her left ankle, and a small Capitol building is to the left of her right foot. The reverse shows a large eagle in flight to the left. It is reminiscent of Gobrechts flying eagle. Beneath the eagle is the rising sun with stylized rays, some of which touch the opposite rim.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens was born in Ireland, the son of a shoemaker. He became one of Americas most successful sculptors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1848, his family moved from Dublin to New York before his first birthday. When he was thirteen, Saint-Gaudens left school and became an apprentice to a cameo cutter. He also took classes at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. When he was nineteen, he moved to Europe where he studied classical art and architecture.        

His first commission was a statue of Admiral Farragut that is still in Madison Square Park in New York. By the 1890s Saint-Gaudens had produced his statues of Diana and Abraham Lincoln, both considered some of his greatest works. He also created works such as the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Boston Common and the equestrian monument to Civil War general John A. Logan in Chicago. He became part of a group of new artists and architects and worked for an architectural firm for whom he produced a group of monuments and decorative sculpture. Throughout his career, he worked with architects creating works that were designed specifically for the sites they were building. At the entrance to New Yorks Central Park is his bronze statue of General Sherman led by Victory. It took him eleven years to complete this project.

Saint-Gaudens moved to his summer home in Cornish, New Hampshire in 1900. Joined there by a community of artists, Saint-Gaudens spent his final years. He died of stomach cancer in 1907 just after he created the beautiful high relief models for the eagle and double eagle coins at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt, for whom he had earlier designed the second inaugural medal.

Charles E. Barber was the sixth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. He became Chief Engraver after the death of his father, William. He served from 1879 to 1917. He is best known for his designs of the Barber dime, quarter, and half dollar. In addition he designed the Liberty Head nickel, several commemoratives, and the Flowing Hair Stella pattern.

When President Roosevelt wanted to redesign the coinage of the United States, he felt that he was in a private war with Charles Barber. Because Roosevelt felt that Barber was not an imaginative engraver, he enlisted the help of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and later Bela Lyon Pratt to remake Americas coinage. Barber was critical of the new designs and pointed out their impracticality. Eventually his view prevailed.