1911-D Saint Gaudens - 1911-D Saint Gaudens $20 NGC MS65 CAC. Gorgeous gem. A bold strike and full mint luster characterize this Western branch mint 1911-D Gem double eagle. Full details are found on Libertys bosom, the Capitol building and its immediate area, the feathers of the eagle, and the top of the wings. The coin is completely original and clean for the grade with no notable abrasion marks or other distractions. The CAC sticker confirms the grade and indicates that the coin is of premium quality.

The setting for the coins obverse was taken from Saint-Gaudens' Victory, a sculpture that is part of the Sherman Monument in New York City's Central Park. The coin depicts Liberty striding toward the viewer as if she is ready to step out of the coin as her hair blows to the side. She is holding an olive branch in her left hand and a torch in her right, lighting the way to freedom as dawn rises over the capitol. She is wearing a loose, flowing gown that exposes her arms and her left knee and leg. The Capitol building is shown at the lower left. Behind her are thirteen rays of the sunburst. The date in Arabic numerals is on the right, below the olive branch. LIBERTY is in an arc at the top border. Forty-eight stars surround the edge of the coin, one for each state in the Union at the time. On the reverse, Saint-Gaudens placed a large, majestic eagle soaring to the left above the rising sun. It is reminiscent of Gobrechts flying eagle. Above the eagle in two arcs are the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination. IN GOD WE TRUST is on the circular edge of the sun. Saint-Gaudens had placed the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM on the coins edge thus reducing the clutter on the obverse and reverse and reinforcing their clean, open look.

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.

The 1911-D double eagle in Gem grade makes an excellent type coin and is sought after by both collectors of the series as well as those who wish to assemble a gold type set. Only 2% of all NGC and PCGS certified 1911-D double eagles have received a CAC sticker.