1925-S Saint Gaudens -  1925-S $20 Saint Gaudens PCGS MS61 CAC. This pretty, Western branch mint 1925-S Saint Gaudens Double Eagle is lustrous and fresh looking. No wear is found on the coin, and the surfaces are original and clean for the grade with a rich orange-gold color. The CAC sticker confirms that this piece is of premium quality and fully merits the grade assigned. The strike is above average with slight weakness in the drapery of the bosom, the Capitol building, and the top of the wings.

The 1925-S double eagle is a Motto Added type. In 1908 IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the reverse above the rising sun. President Theodore Roosevelt had been opposed to the motto because he felt that considering how a coin could be used, it was blasphemous to have the name of God on it. Coins could fall on the floor and be stepped on. They could be used for gambling or prostitution.  Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the designer, agreed and the two of them planned the double eagle with no motto. In fact the mintages of the first year and half of the second had no motto. However, Congress disagreed and ordered all coins to adhere to the law that was passed in 1865. In the early part of the Twentieth Century, those who opposed having Gods name on the coinage were probably thought of as anarchists and/or Bolsheviks. Of course, Congress was more concerned with public opinion than the First Amendments principle of separation of church and state, and so the motto was mandated.

It became Charles Barbers responsibility to rework the coin adding the motto. In 1912 the coin was further modified by adding two stars for New Mexico and Arizona, the two newest states. Barber also modified the reverse by changing the tail feathers from eight to nine, and the suns rays from 34 to 33. He also made the heavier rays thinner and some of them longer.
During the Great Recall of 1933-34, there was extensive melting of double eagles. Americans were mandated to turn in their hoards of gold with an exemption of $100 in gold coin per person. Collectors of rare and unusual coins were also allowed to keep their collections, probably because certain government officials had collections of pattern coins. Not only did the act prohibit the hoarding of gold, it prohibited the increasingly extensive speculative activity abroad in foreign exchange [that] has resulted in severe drains on the Nations stocks of gold. As a result, President Franklin Roosevelt declared a national emergency and bank holiday, which he felt would be in the national interest. After confiscation of the coins, there was melting. The coins were made into gold bricks that were deposited in Fort Knox. In the period from 1933 to 1939, 66,383,444 double eagles were melted.

Despite Charles Barbers tinkering with the design, it has retained its appeal over the years. In fact the gold American Eagle bullion program, first issued in 1986, makes use of the design in a somewhat modified form.

The original design of Saint-Gaudens double eagle shows a full figure of standing Liberty. She wears a loose, flowing gown that allows her left leg to be exposed as she rests it on a rock. In her right hand she carries a long torch and in her left, an olive branch. Behind her are the rays of a rising sun. To the left of her right foot there is a small Capitol building, and to the right of her left ankle is the date. She is encircled by forty-eight stars, one for each state in the Union at the time of issue. The edge is lettered E PLURIBUS UNUM, divided by stars. The reverse shows a large eagle, reminiscent of Gobrechts, flying towards the left over a stylized rising sun. Some of the suns rays touch the opposite rim. IN GOD WE TRUST is on the circular edge of the sun. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc at the top of the coin. Just beneath the legend is the denomination, TWENTY DOLLARS. All of the words in the legends on the reverse are separated by dots.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens first commission was for a statue of Admiral Farragut in Madison Square Park in New York City. He also did statues of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War General John A. Logan, and a special statue of General Sherman let by Victory, which is at the entrance to New Yorks Central Park. Much of his work was done designing decorative art for architectural firms with whom he worked.  In 1900 Saint-Gaudens moved to his summer home in Cornish, New Hampshire. A group of artists joined him there, including Bela Lyon Pratt, his former student and future designer of the new quarter and half eagles. In 1907 Saint-Gaudens died of stomach cancer just after he created the beautiful high relief models for the new eagle and double eagle coins at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt. Saint-Gaudens had earlier designed Roosevelts second inaugural medal, and the two had become friends. 

The majority of dates 1912-1933 were destroyed. Some coins survived this melting because they had been stored in European bank vaults. The result is that when rare specimens are offered, they often are either in circulated condition or have excessive bag marks. In its population report as of June 2012, CAC has confirmed 1 1925-S double eagle in MS61 condition with 13 better.