Every now and again in the world of coins a truly incredible coin is produced. This was the case in 1907 when the high relief Saint-Gaudens twenty dollar double eagle gold coin was produced. The image on the obverse of the coin is still in use on the American Eagle gold coins because it was considered by many to be the most beautiful coins the US mint had ever produced. It never would have been produced if not for President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt's absolute disgust of the coins in circulation in the US once he became president.
In 1904 Roosevelt encouraged the mint to let his personal friend and artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens to design several new coins for the nation. The mint agreed and Saint-Gaudens set out to produce the coins. For the $20 gold coin he envisioned Liberty with wings or with a flowing dress, in the end the latter turned out to be more practical. By 1906 the artist had developed cancer slowing his progress and his assistant had to help him with much of the work. The coin was finished in high relief (a raised image vs a flatter one) making it a beautiful coin and Roosevelt happily endorsed it. It turned out to be a huge problem as the mint couldn't produce many because of the high relief (taking up to 11 strikes to achieve it) and they wouldn't stack properly for commerce use. So a lower relief version was eventually adopted for the next year. Saint-Gaudens died in 1907 before ever seeing the finished product. A very sad end to that story.
Very few of the high relief coins were produced making them very heavily sought after by collectors. On top of that another President Roosevelt confiscated gold from the American people some two decades later and many were melted down into ordinary gold bars. So the few that are left are very expensive. That's why this coin is on my Christmas wish list on day 9!
from eBay.com
About the coin
Country: United States of America
Denomination: Twenty Dollars
Composition: Gold 90% / Copper 10%
Mintage (all varieties): 12,367
Finish: High relief
Year: 1907
Diameter: 34 mm
Weight: 33.436 grams
Obverse: Standing Liberty with torch and olive branch, 46 stars around, Capitol building left in background (from Numista.com), Lettering: LIBERTY MCMVII
Reverse: Eagle in flight with the sun underneath, Lettering: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TWENTY DOLLARS
Edge: lettered with E PLURIBUS UNUM separated by stars
Engraver: Augustus Saint-Gaudens
A coin like this one doesn't come inexpensive, the price trend listed on the PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) web site lists it at $125,000 US. This one is up for sale on eBay for only $106,200 US, so not too bad a deal, but way outside of my budget and probably most of the people here too I imagine. So if Santa can't deliver one I'm going to have to wait for a really strong bull run by crypto to get me there!
If anyone has any questions about coin terminology or coin grading feel free to ask! It can be a bit of a foreign language at first.
What do you think of my Christmas wish list item of the day? I may be shooting for the moon, but if don't dream you can't achieve it either! If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments please feel free to share them. Thank you for taking the time to stop on by and read my post. Have a great Thursday! (and it's almost Friday!)
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver collecting and stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
References
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces23128.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Gaudens_double_eagle
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1907-20-high-relief-wire-edge/9135
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 34 people re-blog my post, thank you so much! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it:
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Congratulations 
You will receive 3 HSBI units!
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win 3 HSBI units! New twist, one winner on the first spin wins 3 HSBI, and a second spin for a chance for 2 HSBI, so two possible winners or one really luck one could win both spins! An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prize. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.