LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 February Long Beach Signature Coin #460  / 

2784

1907 $20 High Relief, Flat Rim MS66 PCGS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:70,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1907 $20 High Relief, Flat Rim MS66 PCGS
<B>1907 $20 High Relief, Flat Rim MS66 PCGS.</B></I> In his award-winning book <I>Renaissance of American Coinage, 1905-1908</B></I>, Roger Burdette gives praise to the unsung heroes of the Mint who made coins such as the High Relief possible:<BR><BR>"In any assessment of the 1905-07 collaboration, recognition must also be given to the mechanics and engineers at the Philadelphia Mint. These included superintendent of machinery Matthew J. Buckley, senior machinist Samuel Hart, foreman Clifford Hewitt and George J. Schaefer who specialized in making coin collars. Largely unknown to today's numismatists, these men labored for long hours to solve practical mechanical problems associated with the new coins. They worked in a near vacuum of information on striking high relief coins, and on impressing raised lettering and stars on the edge of eagles and double eagles. Hints of possible solutions came from the Royal Mint in London and A. Loudon Snowden's 1885 experiments. ... We may never know the many paths of failed experiments, but we know they succeeded because we can hold coins their ingenuity made possible."<BR><BR> The "failure" of the Wire Rim double eagle was just such a problem that these men grappled with. The result was the so-called Flat Rim High Relief, a coin that minimized the amount of extruded metal between the die and collar. Such Flat Rim High Reliefs are significantly scarcer than their Wire Rim counterparts, and are also predictably scarcer in high grades such as seen here. <BR> As with most Flat Rim coins, the rims are not <I>completely</B></I> flat. Just as on Wire Rim twenties, the wire rim is seldom complete around both sides. The rim on this piece is <I>mostly</B></I> flat, but Mostly Flat Rim and Mostly Wire Rim are not terms that are likely to catch on in numismatic parlance. This is a fabulous coin. The surfaces have the usual satiny mint luster, and they are almost free from contact marks. Fully struck in all areas with full definition on the Capitol building, Liberty's toes, and complete separation between the letters on the upper reverse and the rim. Rich yellow-gold color with just a hint of reddish patina. <BR><BR><B>Coin Engraver:</B> Augustus Saint-Gaudens<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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