LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2007 Jan (FUN) Heritage Signature Coin #422  / 

3799

1907 $20 High Relief PR64 NGC. As of this writing (11/

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:37,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 2.00 USD
1907 $20 High Relief PR64 NGC. As of this writing (11/
<B>1907 $20 High Relief PR64 NGC.</B></I> As of this writing (11/06), NGC recognizes proofs of the High Relief issue, while PCGS does not. Roger Burdette's monumental <I>Renaissance of American Coinage</B></I> does not support the theory of the existence of true proofs--coins that have been produced in a profoundly different manner than the regular issue pieces--but neither does it <I>disprove</B></I> their existence. These coins were, after all, a modified version of the Ultra High Relief coins. The Ultra High Reliefs were strictly pattern coins or specimen strikes, made early in 1907 in an indubitable proof format. Despite their best intentions to produce coins "worthy of the ancient Greeks," both President Roosevelt and Augustus Saint-Gaudens came to ultimately realize the exigencies of modern coinage (and banking) would not allow coins with as high a relief as the Ultras to be mass-produced on modern coining presses. Roosevelt's enthusiasm for coinage redesign led to some truly hilarious correspondences between him and Saint-Gaudens, who had had a "run-in" with the arch-conservative Mint Engraver Charles Barber in 1892 over the production of a medal for the upcoming World's Columbian Exposition. From then until 1905, Saint-Gaudens avoided contact with the Mint. Roosevelt to Saint-Gaudens, January 1906:<BR><BR><I> ... Of course Treasury Secretary Leslie Mortier Shaw thinks I am a crack-brained lunatic on the subject, but he said with great kindness that there was always a certain number of gold coins that had to be stored up in vaults, and there was no earthly objection to having those coins as artistic as the Greeks could desire. ... I think it will seriously increase the mortality among the employees at the Mint at seeing such a desecration, but they will perish in a good cause!</B></I><BR><BR> Saint-Gaudens to Roosevelt, May 1906:<BR><BR><I> ... Whatever I produce cannot be worse than the inanities now displayed on our coins, and we will at least have made an attempt in the right direction, and served the country by increasing the mortality at the Mint. There is one gentleman there, however, who, when he sees what is coming, may have the 'nervous prostitution,' as termed by a native here, but killed, no. He has been in that institution since the foundation of the government and will be found standing in its ruins.</B></I><BR><BR> The relief was modified a second time, to the High Relief design. Mint Director Frank Leach had 11,000 or 12,000 pieces of the High Relief examples minted, turning what would have been a second pattern issue into "business strike" coinage--but clearly one of a special nature. Leach is known to have expressed regret that the coins were bringing a premium, and apparently went to great lengths to satisfy the overwhelming demand (as well as to placate President Roosevelt). It may be that all of these coins were considered "proofs" in some sense, but that several, or even multiple, mintage occasions may have occasioned some pieces to have been struck with more care, higher pressure, or more blows from the press than at other times. This piece shows the proof diagnostics, as outlined in Walter Breen's <I>Proof Encyclopedia</B></I>: The berries in the obverse olive wreath are well rounded; there is only a slight suggestion of a wire rim; the pillars and other details in the Capitol building are boldly brought up; the eagle's tail feathers are sharp all the way to the rim; and the inner border is sharp on both sides. A couple of undistracting contact marks on each side are consistent with the grade. Census: 64 in 64, 58 finer (11/06).<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coin/Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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