Named after its designer Augustus Saint Gaudens, the $20 Saint Gaudens is considered to be the most magnificent rare coin to ever be minted by the United States. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt sought to enhance the beauty of the American coin system thus hiring personal friend and sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens to design the new $20 and $10 gold coins. Some of Augustus Saint Gaudens works include “Standing Lincoln” in Chicago’s Lincoln Park and the General Sherman Civil War monument in New York’s Central Park. The obverse features a full-length Liberty face forward with an olive branch in one had and a torch in the other. She is posed with the sun and a depiction of the U.S. Capitol building behind her. The word “Liberty” arcs above her. The reverse of the coin features a bald eagle gliding across the sun, the words “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “TWENTY DOLLARS” arc across the top of the coin. Initially left out in 1907 and the first half of 1908, the motto “IN GOLD WE TRUST” lies on the bottom of the reverse. The Saint Gaudens $20 design was so acclaimed that the Mint chose to use this design for the creation of the modern Gold American Eagle coins.
