Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles

Replacing the venerable Liberty Head design that had been in production since 1849, the United States Mint struck Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles dated 1907 through 1933. As part of his “Pet Crime” to beautify American coinage according to classical standards, President Theodore Roosevelt employed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign all the circulating denominations. Nearing the end of his life, however, Saint-Gaudens designed only two: the $20 double eagle and the $10 eagle (Indian Head) gold coins. Originally conceived of as ultra high relief, the Mint had to lower the relief and otherwise adapt Saint-Gaudens’ double eagle to better allow for the minting process and commercial reality.

Before Teddy’s cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ended circulating gold coinage in 1933 with Executive Order 6102, the double eagle underwent another modification. In 1912, the number of stars encircling Liberty on the obverse increased from 46 to 48, marking the addition of New Mexico and Arizona to the Union. Most double eagles minted after 1928 were stored by the Treasury Department and not released into circulation.

While the Mint struck over 450,000 1933 Double Eagles , the vast majority of the production run was melted due to the end of gold coinage in America. Nevertheless, perhaps two dozen or so examples escaped the furnace and were distributed to dealers and collectors. The United States Secret Service eventually tracked down many of them but famously the State Department allowed one to be sold and exported to King Farouk of Egypt, thus beginning one of the most infamous stories of American numismatics and establishing the Farouk 1933 double eagle as the most expensive U.S. coin ever sold at auction, achieving $18.9 million USD in June 2021.

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