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Sale 51
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Lot 1571
1907 $10 Indian. Wire rim, periods. NGC graded MS-66. An exquisite gem with superb satiny mint surfaces that are virtually immaculate. Pale yellow in color with a touch of light golden overtones at the borders on both sides. A rare and desirable transitional Type, one of a mere 500 coins made without intentions of circulation, technically making the Wire Edge ten a pattern (Judd-1774). This issue was the closest the mint came to making the ten-dollar design as conceived by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Theodore Roosevelt. The presently offered coin has subtly variegated colors, marvelous luster, and only the smallest marks, none of which we find need to be singled out, nothing out of the ordinary. The die polishing marks (common to all specimens) are more prominent in the reverse fields. Overall the coin has a lovely vibrant satiny sheen. Pop 17; 10 finer (PCGS # 8850) .
The story on this issue is delightful and is always worth repeating. President Teddy Roosevelt took it upon himself to replace the designs on our national coinage. In a letter to the famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Roosevelt called the coin designs then in circulation "atrociously hideous", and further asked for Saint-Gaudens help in redesigning the coinage. Saint-Gaudens had sworn he would never work for the mint under any circumstances after submitting a magnificent design for the official medal of the 1892 Columbian Exposition. Saint-Gaudens submission featured a magnificent portrait of Columbus, with the reverse of a Grecian youth, unashamedly naked, holding torch and wreaths to crown the victors. The controlling Board of Gentlemen Managers of the Exposition accepted Saint-Gaudens models and displayed them. Soon the naked youth came to the attention of Anthony Comstock, founder of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, who at once denounced the Saint-Gaudens reverse as "obscene", and began a torrent of verbal abuse at the sculptor and the Exposition. Comstock also wielded his immense power in Congress. The Board, afraid to stand up to the fanatic, or to defend Saint-Gaudens from fundamentalist prudery, withdrew the reverse and asked Charles E. Barber to design a replacement, predictably notable in its banality. Saint-Gaudens, infuriated, swore he would go to his grave before having anything to do with the Mint Bureau again.
Fourteen years after that painful incident, President Theodore Roosevelt used his friendship with Saint-Gaudens to persuade him to design his official inaugural medal. Roosevelt confided to Saint-Gaudens his "pet crime" of wanting to redesign Barber's coinage. This seemed plausible with Roosevelt in the White House. Roosevelt specifically wanted to see the beauty and dignity displayed on Greek coins on America's coinage. Saint-Gaudens took on the challenge, and began to produce models, just as his health declined. Saint-Gaudens's pupil, Henry Hering stepped into Saint-Gaudens's shoes and completed the finishing touches on the designs and Roosevelt used all his influence to have dies made under Hering's supervision. Barber hated the personal slight, and fought the Roosevelt/Saint-Gaudens project every step of the way.
At last, dies were completed for these magnificent eagles. Having no edge, the wire rim became a problem when the coins were stacked, so they would tip over, not to mention being a handy dirt collecting device. Barber demanded they be redesigned, and sabotaged the project at every turn. Roosevelt persisted, and Hering continued to press for the original designs. Nevertheless, Barber's sabotage paid off, and the original concepts were changed in late 1907, reducing the relief adding rims to the eagles and double eagles designed by Saint-Gaudens. Meanwhile Saint-Gaudens died before any were coined, never seeing his magnificent coins in circulation. This particular coin is closest to Saint-Gauden's original design, on later issues the periods were dropped, then the design was changed a bit by Barber for the more common no periods, "Type III".
Saint-Gaudens had originally hoped to have a full standing figure of Liberty, but Roosevelt wanted only Liberty's head, so as not to detract from the stunning full person of Liberty on the double eagle. Saint-Gaudens chose the figure of Nike from his General Sherman monument (1905) for the obverse head, Roosevelt then requested the Indian war bonnet be added, possibly to conceal the Sherman monument connection, and thus minimize protests from the South. No Native American woman would have worn such a war bonnet, but the powers that be insisted, so there it is. (See Breen's Encyclopedia for more).
Estimated Value $65,000 - 75,000.
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| Realized $74,750 |
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