515

Lot 0515 1907 $20 St. Gaudens. High Relief, Wire Rim PC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 150,000.00 USD
Lot 0515 1907 $20 St. Gaudens. High Relief, Wire Rim PC
The surfaces are sleek, choice and glowing with a healthy show of satiny swirls and full bright yellow-gold color. There is no toning. Don't expect the usual halfhearted impression left by the striking of the (sometimes worn) dies that made this piece, for we are glad to report the opposite is true. This is a very bold coin with sharp centers and a nice wire edge.

Approximately 7,250 were struck with partial wire rim and about 4,000 with flat (without wire) rim. This was publicized in 1908, soon after striking, and for a long time thereafter listings included these as separate varieties. The matter was not one of a different die, but simply involved the spacing in the collar which allowed metal to squeeze upward from the rim; such wire rims, also called "knife rims" or, in Mint parlance, "fins," are common elsewhere, such as in 19th century Proof coinage.

According to research done by Stack's: "High Reliefs were struck in 3 blows of the dies on a medal press in the Philadelphia Mint," according to Stacks, in reference to a unique plain edge 1907 High Relief $20 gold piece the firm auction in January 2006. "The first two strikings were made utilizing a plain collar, presumably to prevent the raised edge lettering from being disfigured from successive strikings. It was only during the third striking that the plain collar was replaced by the lettered collar to produce a ''complete'' High Relief Double Eagle with Lettered Edge. Due to the work-hardening of metal that results from the pressures of the striking process, the as yet ''incomplete'' coin was removed from the press after the first and second strikings to be annealed, or softened by heating."