1911-S $20 Saint Gaudens PCGS MS66

The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful coins to come out of the U.S. Mint. Combine a president with an eye for artistry and couple that with a world famous designer and this is the result. The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle features a high-relief design which, ultimately, wasn't practical (stacking the coins, along with press issues caused problems) so production came to an end in 1933.

When it was all said and done, there were three versions of the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. The original featured the greatest relief and was challenging to produce. It took multiple strikes from the coin press to bring up the design. Mass production of coins requires speed, which is certainly lost if the coin must be struck more than once. Secondly, in this era banks and businesses counted their money by making stacks of coins. The relief was such that the coins would not stack properly. Expediency trumped art, and after a mintage of just over 12,000 coins, minting of High-Relief Double Eagles came to a halt.

The second type, minted from 1907-1908 featured a reduced relief but the design stayed almost exactly the same. This type (nor the first type, minted in 1907) did not include the motto, as Roosevelt was a religious man who felt God should not be included on currency that may be used for nefarious purposes.

The third and final type, minted from 1908-1933, had a few changes from the first and second.

The first major modification added the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to the reverse in 1908. The motto is seen just above the sun. The second major change took place in 1912 when New Mexico and Arizona became states, and two stars were added to the obverse, bringing the total to 48. The new stars were added at the lower right end of the arc pattern of stars. In 1908, minor modifications changed the number of eagle tail feathers from eight to nine, and the number of rays on the reverse was reduced from 34 to 33.