LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2006 October Dallas Signature Coin Auction #428  / 

3428

1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS65 PCGS. The scene is

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:10,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS65 PCGS. The scene is
<B>1907<$20> High Relief, Wire Rim MS65 PCGS.</B></I> The scene is a museum, a thousand years in the future. A sign outside one gallery, in a language nobody today could read, labels it "American Art." Along with paintings and sculptures are a few examples of coins from the United States. What would be included? A Buffalo nickel is not hard to imagine, with its rugged, yet artistic design. A Morgan or Peace dollar might represent silver coinage. The true centerpiece, though, might be a High Relief Saint-Gaudens double eagle, should the museum be fortunate enough to own one.<BR> Many numismatists would agree with the assessment, including several experts who consider the High Relief double eagle to be the pinnacle of United States coin design. Despite his criticism that they were "[a]lmost overt in their dependence on Hellenistic antiquity," Cornelius Vermeule wrote in <I>Numismatic Art in America: Aesthetics of United States Coinage</B></I> that, along with his design for the eagle, the "...twenty-dollar gold coins designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens still managed to emerge as perhaps the greatest statements of Americanism in the official minor arts."<BR> The present example, remarkably well-preserved with magnificent eye appeal, reinforces this conviction. This pleasingly lustrous yellow-gold Gem has peach accents in the fields and pale green accents on and near the devices. The multiple strikes, which reinforce the medallic qualities inherent in the design, have brought out many delicate details not visible on later, lower-relief pieces, such as the fine lines on Liberty's robe, though certain areas, such as the Capitol building, lack some definition. A partial wire rim is visible from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock on the obverse and corresponding area on the reverse. This remarkable coin, sure to be a prized addition to any collection, is housed in a green label holder.
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