The 20 dollar Gold Piece, or Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Gold Coin is highly regarded to be one of the finest coins in American Coin history. Although the Indian Head $2.50 and $5.00 pieces, (Indian Head quarter and Half Eagles) are smaller United States gold coins minted in the same period, they are often regarded as more innovative and daring than the 20 dollar gold piece, and are regarded as even more controversial.

In the early 20th century, these four gold United States Coins has been circulated with out any design changes for over fifty years, with three of the coins having identical designs of Lady Liberty for over 60 years. With the average American life expectancy of less than fifty years, it was clearly time for a change.

In 1901 Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to become President upon the assassination of William McKinley. With Roosevelt being a well known proprietor of change, he took personal interest in leaving his mark on the majority of United States coinage.

Debuting in 1907, Roosevelt received high marks for employing Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the famed sculptor, to redesign the double eagle and eagle (or $10 gold piece). With rave reviews of the new designs, Roosevelt was clearly a fresh eye for beauty in US mint.

Because their designs and lettering are sunken in a plane that is uniformly flat, the Indian Head quarter eagle and the half eagle stand apart from other United States coinage. With the highest points of relief being level with the coins' fields, they have no raised rims to protect them from wear. The only element of these coins to exceed the level of their fields are, just slightly, their mint marks.

The concept for these coins originated from William Sturgis Bigelow, a Boston physician and art lover, and close friend of Roosevelt. Bigelow's interest in new coinage designs had been stimulated by Egyptian reliefs in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He and Roosevelt thought employing these techniques was a novel idea and a worthy concept for fresh ideas in US mint. While there was no modern precedent for the use of these techniques, it was exactly the change Roosevelt was seeking.

Sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt was another prominent Bostonian, and was assigned designer for many new coins at this time. While Saint-Gaudens created different designs for the double eagle and eagle, Pratt conceptualized identical portraits for both of the smaller coins, which was accepted because of their beauty, dignity and strength.

The obverse depicts an Indian clad in a war bonnet, with thirteen stars, the date, and the motto LIBERTY forming a circle around the center. With astute placement and sizing, Pratt successfully incorporated four inscriptions on the reverse, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, IN GOD WE TRUST and the statement of value. The reverse has an eagle on fasces and an olive branch, the symbols of preparedness and peace.

In 1908 the coin was received with mixed reviews. While the artistic aspects of the design's were appreciated, many immediately disagreed with the eagle and Indian head designs. Most people believed neither the eagle nor the Indian were justly represented, and in addition, the coin's lacked the ability to stack properly.

in addition, the design elements, being unfamiliar, stirred much criticism. Philadelphia coin dealer Samuel H. Chapman made many comments, finding it particularly objectionable. He questioned President Roosevelt about the "sunken design". Chapman felt it would lead to many problems, some of which were its ease of counterfeit and even its ability to spread illness (he argued that the recessed areas would become laden with dirt and spread disease). However Roosevelt remained steadfast in his support for the coins.

There are just fifteen different date and mint combination, with twelve issues from Philadelphia Mint and only three from Denver. This is one of the smallest series in U.S. Coinage, making a complete set available for collectors even though the cost of buying gold is so high. This is so affordable because only one coin so scarce, the 1911-D, with 55,680 piece. THis is the only coin with a mintage of less than 240,000. The mintmark for Denver is found on the reverse, left of the arrowheads.

A small number of matte proofs were made in every year from 1908 through 1915. However, the flat matte finish was so unpopular with collectors of the day that many remained unsold, to later be melted by the Mint.

The design elements on the Indian Head quarter eagles are protected from excessive wear because of the the recessed areas. However, this recessed design complicates the grading of these coins as the patterns of normal wear are different from the raised-relief coins. The majors areas for detecting wear are the Indian's cheekbone and headdress feathers and the shoulder of the eagle's left wing. While this coin is found in many grades, up to mint state-64, anything above this is very rare, and few examples exist in Mint State-66 grades and above. Keep note that counterfeits of many dates exist, and some are very deceiving. Any questionable piece should be immediately authenticated by a professional.

The Indian Head quarter eagle if thought not to be as stunning as the Saint-Gaudens coinage, but it has many fans and has long since overcome its criticism. This series is perhaps the only series of United States gold coins that were easily completed. Aside from the 1911-D, all dates in this series are available in mint state. Excellent collection pieces, proving to gain worth year after year.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Akers, David W., A Handbook of 20th-Century United States Gold Coins 1907-1933,Bowers & Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1988. Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage, Arco Publishing Co. Inc., New York, 1966. Yeoman, R.S., A Guide Book of United States Coins, 47th Edition, Western Publishing Co., Racine, WI, 1993.