|
Sale 8
|
|
press UP arrow key to increase the zoom ratio.
press DOWN arrow key to decrease the zoom ratio.
press RIGHT arrow key to increase the zoom window size.
press LEFT arrow key to decrease the zoom window size.
|
|
Lot 4100
1907. Wire rim, periods. NGC graded MS-66. Miscalled the "wire rim" by most, the proper term is "knife rim" to describe the fine raised circle of gold at the extreme edge of the rim on the obverse and reverse. The surfaces are outstanding, with satiny softness throughout. The fields show extensive die polishing lines which cross many of the devices. The net mintage is believed to be 448, after some were melted from the original 500 coined. Apparently these were not intended for circulation, but were instead given out to dignitaries, hence most of these are not well preserved.
One of only 3 graded as such, with 4 graded higher by NGC. This one has a tiny mark in the field before Liberty's nose, and another small scrape on the raised branch below the eagle's foreward claw. In NGC holder #651795-007.
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 St. Gaudens, Roosevelt called the coin designs then in circulation "atrociously hideous", and further asked for St. Gaudens help in redesigning the coinage. St. Gaudens had sworn he would never work for mint under any circumstances after submitting a magnificent design for the official medal of the 1892 Columbian Exposition. St. 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 St. 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 St. 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 St. Gaudens from fundamentalist prudery, withdrew the reverse and asked Charles E. Barber to design a replacement, predictably notable in its banality. St. 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 St. Gaudens to persuade him to design his official inaugural medal. Roosevelt confided to St. Gaudens his "pet crime" of wanting to redesign Barbers 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. St. Gaudens took on the challenge, and began to produce models, just as his health declined. St. Gaudens's pupil, Henry Hering stepped into St. 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/St. 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 St. Gaudens. Meanwhile St. Gaudens died before any were coined, never seeing his magnificent coins in circulation. This particular coin is closest to St. 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".
St. 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. St. 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).
This coin is a sweet reminder of an epic battle that waged from the White House to the Mint, and the power of many personalities, all struggling with their own agendas.
Estimated Value $50,000 - 75,000.
|
| |
| Realized $57,500 |
|
