The Coin Roosevelt Demanded Returns in Gold for America’s 250th Anniversary
America’s most celebrated gold coin returns for the nation’s 250th anniversary, and the U.S. Mint saved its biggest Best of the Mint statement for last
Theodore Roosevelt looked at American coinage and saw more than pocket change.
He saw a national canvas.
In 1905, Roosevelt turned to sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The president wanted American coins to reflect the nation’s growing stature. Saint-Gaudens answered with a $20 gold coin unlike anything the United States Mint had produced for circulation.
Liberty did not sit quietly on the obverse. She surged forward.
The eagle did not rest on a shield. It flew into a rising sun.
The relief pushed the limits of early 20th-century coinage technology. Meanwhile, the artistic ambition pushed even further.
Now, 119 years later, that story returns.
On September 24, 2026, at 12 noon Eastern Time, the United States Mint will release the Best of the Mint 1907 Saint-Gaudens High Relief $20 Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set. The set carries product number 26BM5. It also marks the fifth and final release in the Mint’s Best of the Mint Semiquincentennial series.
And the Mint may have saved the most famous design for last.
A President, a Sculptor, and a Coin That Refused to Behave
Roosevelt personally asked Saint-Gaudens to help transform American gold coinage.
The partnership produced one of the most dramatic chapters in U.S. Mint history.
Saint-Gaudens developed Liberty as a full-length figure. She strides forward with a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left. Behind her, the sun rises. The U.S. Capitol appears in the distance.
On the reverse, an eagle sweeps across the rays of another rising sun.
It looked like sculpture reduced to the size of money.
However, sculpture and mass-production coinage do not always cooperate.
Saint-Gaudens first pushed the design into extraordinary relief. Those Ultra High Relief experimental pieces required repeated blows from a hydraulic press. The Smithsonian notes that producing the earliest versions could require nine blows. Fewer than two dozen Ultra High Relief examples emerged.
Looking for a Solution
The Mint then reduced the relief.
Even that solution remained difficult. Workers still needed multiple strikes on slower equipment to bring up the design properly. Nevertheless, the Philadelphia Mint produced a limited run of High Relief double eagles before Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber lowered the design further for normal high-speed production.
Saint-Gaudens never saw the completed circulation version. Cancer claimed his life in August 1907. His assistant, Henry Hering, continued the work.
By December, Barber’s lower-relief version carried an Arabic 1907 date instead of the High Relief coin’s Roman MCMVII.
The great experiment had ended.
The legend had just begun.
How Many Original 1907 High Relief Double Eagles Exist?
Collectors often see a single mintage figure attached to the 1907 High Relief. However, the historical record deserves more care.
The U.S. Mint’s fiscal 1908 annual report states that 12,153 High Relief double eagles came from the second model. Other references have published different totals.
For example, later numismatic research has produced figures ranging from roughly 12,000 to more than 12,700 pieces, depending on how researchers count strikes, melts, and other production details.
Therefore, CoinWeek does not treat one modern catalog figure as universally settled.
However, one comparison stands out.
The new 2026 Saint-Gaudens set carries a maximum mintage of 15,000.
That creates an intriguing numerical echo of the remarkably small original High Relief production more than a century ago.
The 2026 Saint-Gaudens High Relief Gold Coin
The new coin returns to Saint-Gaudens’ famous composition.
Liberty strides forward on the obverse. Her long hair flows behind her. She carries a torch and olive branch as sunrays fill the background. The Capitol rises in the distance.
The inscriptions read LIBERTY and MCMVII.
However, collectors will immediately find one distinctly 2026 feature.
A Liberty Bell privy mark containing the numeral “250” connects the coin to the Semiquincentennial of American independence.
The reverse shows Saint-Gaudens’ eagle flying left across the rays of the rising sun. The inscriptions read UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and TWENTY DOLLARS.
Meanwhile, the edge carries E PLURIBUS UNUM in raised lettering.
The West Point Mint will strike the gold coin. The specifications list no mint mark.
This Is Not Simply a Copy of the 1907 Coin
Here lies an important detail for collectors.
The 2026 coin reproduces the historic design, but it does not duplicate the original coin’s physical specifications.
The original High Relief double eagle contained 90% gold and 10% copper. It weighed about 33.4 grams, measured about 34 millimeters, and contained roughly 0.9675 troy ounce of pure gold.
The 2026 coin takes a different approach.
It contains one full troy ounce of 99.99% pure gold. Yet its diameter measures only 30.61 mm.
Therefore, collectors receive Saint-Gaudens’ High Relief design in a modern 24-karat format rather than an exact metallurgical reproduction of the 1907 double eagle.
That distinction matters.
It also places the coin within another important Saint-Gaudens tradition.
In 2009, the Mint digitally recreated Saint-Gaudens’ original Ultra High Relief concept in a one-ounce, 24-karat gold coin. Modern technology finally allowed the Mint to accomplish what production equipment could not achieve in 1907.
The 2026 issue now adds another chapter.
Jesse Hernandez Takes Saint-Gaudens Into the 21st Century
The silver medal does something very different.
Instead of copying the double eagle, it responds to it.
U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Jesse Hernandez designed both sides of the Saint-Gaudens companion medal.
On the obverse, Hernandez gives collectors a new view of Liberty. She again carries a torch and olive branch. Thirteen stars represent the original colonies.
The inscriptions read LIBERTY and MMXXVI.
Then the reverse transforms Saint-Gaudens’ eagle.
Its wings become an American flag as the bird rises above the sun. The composition connects strength, national identity, and the promise of a new day.
The inscription reads UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
The medal contains one troy ounce of 99.9% silver. The Philadelphia Mint will produce it.
That old-versus-new relationship defines the entire Best of the Mint program.
The gold coin preserves.
The silver medal interprets.
2026 Saint-Gaudens High Relief Set Specifications
Specification Gold Saint Gaudens Coin
- Denomination: $20
- Finish: Uncirculated
- Composition: 99.99% gold
- Precious Metal Weight: 1.000 troy ounce gold
- Diameter: 1.205 inches / 30.61 mm
- Edge: Raised lettering
- Mint: West Poin
- Mint: Mark None
Specification Silver Companion Medal
- Denomination: None
- Finish: Uncirculated
- Composition: 99.9% silver
- Precious Metal Weight: 1.000 troy ounce silver
- Diameter: 1.598 inches / 40.60 mm
- Edge: Plain
- Mint: Philadelphia
- Mint Mark: None listed
The Mint has set the mintage limit at 15,000. It lists no separate product limit and currently sets the household order limit at one.
As of September 6, the Mint still lists the retail price as TBD.
Why the Best of the Mint Series Matters
The United States Mint did not simply choose five attractive old coins.
It first assembled a field of 21 historic U.S. coins that stretched from the founding era into the 21st century.
Then Americans participated through a public survey. The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and U.S. Commission of Fine Arts reviewed the five highest-rated choices. Finally, the Secretary of the Treasury approved the selections.
The resulting series offers a remarkably concentrated tour through American numismatic art.
Three selections come from the extraordinary coinage renaissance of 1916.
Another comes from the early republic.
The final selection represents Theodore Roosevelt’s effort to create a new American coinage aesthetic.
Together, they tell more than a history of denominations.
They tell a story about how America has portrayed Liberty.
That gives the program more depth than a typical anniversary series.
Each gold coin looks backward. Each medal asks a modern artist to look forward.
Moreover, the Mint will offer these Best of the Mint sets only during 2026.
Five Coins. Five Stories. One 250th Anniversary Series.
The Best of the Mint program began June 4 with Adolph A. Weinman’s 1916 Mercury Dime. The tenth-ounce gold coin came with a 30,000 mintage limit.
Next came Hermon A. MacNeil’s 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter on July 10. That quarter-ounce gold issue also carries a 30,000 mintage limit.
The 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar followed on August 6. Its gold coin contains one-half troy ounce, while its mintage limit again stands at 30,000.
Then the program changed scale.
On August 27, the Mint released the 1804 Silver Dollar Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set. The gold coin contains a full ounce. At the same time, the Mint cut the mintage ceiling to 15,000.
Now the Saint-Gaudens finale follows that same low 15,000 maximum.
That progression gives collectors a true five-piece program rather than five unrelated anniversary products.
CoinWeek’s Complete Best of the Mint Coverage
CoinWeek has followed the series from its opening release.
Read our coverage of the 1916 Mercury Dime Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set for the story behind Weinman’s Winged Liberty design.
Next, explore the 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter Best of the Mint Set and the remarkable history of the original 52,000-coin 1916 issue.
CoinWeek also examined why Walking Liberty’s return in gold gave the series one of its most recognizable American designs.
Finally, read the extraordinary story behind the 1804 Dollar’s return in gold and the diplomatic coins that created the “King of American Coins.”
The Saint-Gaudens High Relief now completes that journey.
What Could Happen on the Secondary Market?
The secondary-market question deserves more nuance than “low mintage equals profit.”
Several factors could make the Saint-Gaudens set particularly desirable.
First, the 15,000 mintage ceiling matches the lowest limit in the series. Only the 1804 Dollar set shares it.
Second, this set completes the program. Collectors who bought the first four releases may need the Saint-Gaudens issue to finish a five-set collection.
Third, Saint-Gaudens already commands several overlapping collector audiences. Classic gold collectors know the original double eagle. Modern collectors know his Liberty from the American Gold Eagle. Many collectors also remember the 2009 Ultra High Relief.
Finally, the Liberty Bell “250” privy gives the coin a clear one-year historical identity.
Those factors could support demand.
However, collectors should not assume an automatic windfall.
As of Today – The Series Availability
As of September 6, the Mint’s own website shows uneven availability among earlier releases. The Mercury Dime currently shows as unavailable. The Standing Liberty Quarter remains orderable. The Walking Liberty set sits on backorder. The 1804 Dollar set also remains available for ordering.
That matters.
A mintage limit establishes supply. It does not create demand by itself.
The eventual issue price will matter as well. The Saint-Gaudens coin contains a full ounce of gold. Therefore, its entry price will naturally sit well above the first three smaller gold releases.
Collectors should also remember that Saint-Gaudens designs already exist in several modern gold formats. That creates competition for collector dollars.
Even so, the 2026 High Relief has several attributes those other coins lack. It carries the original MCMVII date, a Semiquincentennial privy, a 15,000 mintage ceiling, and a companion medal available only as part of this program.
For long-term collectors, complete five-set groups may eventually become especially interesting. Original Mint packaging and complete documentation could also matter.
Still, the soundest reason to buy this set remains the simplest one.
Buy it because the coin belongs in the collection.
Any future premium should come second.
Roosevelt’s Coin Gets the Final Word
The Best of the Mint program could have ended with almost any famous American coin.
Instead, the Mint chose Saint-Gaudens.
That feels appropriate.
The series began with a 1916 coinage renaissance. It ends with the man whose work helped ignite that renaissance.
Roosevelt wanted American money to say something about America, so Saint-Gaudens gave him Liberty advancing into the sunrise.
The Mint struggled to manufacture that vision in 1907. Then technology caught up with the artist in 2009. Now, in America’s 250th year, the design returns again.
Not as an ordinary double eagle, and not as a circulating coin. Instead, the 1907 High Relief becomes the closing statement in a five-coin examination of American numismatic art.
For collectors, that makes September 24 more than another Mint release date.
It closes one of the most ambitious U.S. Mint anniversary programs of 2026, and it gives Theodore Roosevelt’s great numismatic experiment the last word.
