1809

1908 $20 St. Gaudens. No Motto

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:900.00 USD Estimated At:1,800.00 - 1,900.00 USD
1908 $20 St. Gaudens. No Motto
1908 $20 St. Gaudens. No motto. PCGS graded MS-65. An intensely lustrous gem, the surfaces radiant from centers to periphery. Having covered the mint bloom, we take stock of the coin's detail. Clockwork precision seen in the facial features on Liberty, her dress, the leaves below the date, and the small Capitol dome off to one side. Similar precision in the strike on the eagle.

This handsome $20 gold coin acted as the foundation of the gold standard in its day. The gold standard prevented a country from depreciating the value of its currency by printing more than it could promise to redeem in gold. Gold held the price level in check like a giant anchor. In 1908, the British pound, for instance, had been tied to gold for about 200 years. The value of the pound in 1908 was not that much different from its value in the early 1700s, when Sir Isaac Newton was in charge of the British mint. So too in America, prices remained stable from the 1790s until 1933, with interruptions only occuring during times of war or other financial distress. (Bear in mind, the gold standard provided protection against inflation but not against crises. Banks could not pay gold on demand if everyone wanted to cash in at the same time.) (PCGS # 9142) .
Estimated Value $1,800 - 1,900.