LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Jan. FUN Signature Coin Auction #454  / 

3359

1908-D $20 No Motto MS66 PCGS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:19,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1908-D $20 No Motto MS66 PCGS
<B>1908-D $20 No Motto MS66 PCGS.</B></I> Long Rays. Orders were issued on February 4 to ship double eagle dies and edge collars to the Denver Mint. Along with the package came a message from engraver Charles Barber warning that the new coins would " ... not pile to standard height ..." This was a potentially serious problem because banks and counting houses (even the mint's own adjustors and coin counters) made trial balances using coins piled to the same height. If a stack were too short, a coin was added on the assumption that twenty pieces always made the same height stack. Twenty of the old Liberty Head twenty dollar gold pieces made a pile 1.937 inches high, but the new coins amounted only to 1.852 inches for twenty pieces--a difference of almost one full coin in height. By making new hubs, changing the width of the rim, and making the dies more convex, the mint was able to make the coins thicker and had solved this problem by the end of March.<BR> The first Denver Mint coins also apparently shared the excess diameter problem with Philadelphia, but corrections were made, and coins issued after about March 1, 1908, should have been of the correct 1.350 inches in diameter and extra thickness. As with the Philadelphia issue, varieties with short and long obverse rays are known and seem to be of about equal availability. (Short Rays--ray immediately above the 8 ends just before the star; Long Rays--ray immediately above the 8 ends past the star.) Differences in ray length might be associated with the new hub made to correct thickness and diameter problems. It is possible the Short Ray varieties are also thinner and slightly wider than their Long Ray counterparts, but to date no studies have been conducted in this area. Revised No Motto dies were distributed in March 1908, followed in late May by new dies including the motto mandated by Congress.<BR> This is a splendidly preserved example that is attentively struck throughout. The bright, frosted surfaces show no obvious abrasions and each side displays rich reddish-golden color with a significant accent of lilac over the highpoints. Population: 9 in 66, 0 finer (11/07).<BR><I>From The Jacob Collection of Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles.</B></I><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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