Defining Moment in American Coinage - Gold Coin Rarity Created

Only 88 out of the 115,178 Ultra High Relief Gold Coins made by the United States Mint will have accompanying documentation double-signed by Edmund C. Moy, the 38th Director of the United States Mint. Moy--who authorized and guided these exquisite gold coins through production-- will sign both the official Certificate of Authenticity and the accompanying hard-cover fully illustrated book published by the United States Mint. Mr. Moy has called these coins a "defining moment in American coinage."

The Ultra High Relief Double Eagle was originally created in 1907 by America's greatest sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to fulfill President Theodore Roosevelt's desire to produce coins as beautiful as those created in ancient Greece, rather than America's "atociously hideous" coinage. It is generally recognized as America's most beautiful coin. However, only two of these 1 1/16" diameter gold coins have survived-in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Born in Dublin in 1848, Augustus Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York, after his parents immigrated to America when he was six months of age. He took art classes at the Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. At the age of 19, Saint-Gaudens began studying in Paris, and a few years later he studied both art and architecture in Rome.

The first of many American commissions-- for a bronze David Farragut Memorial-- was unveiled in 1881 in New York's Madison Square. Saint-Gaudens' colossal Standing Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago (1887) is considered the finest portrait statue in the United States. Saint-Gaudens was to labor for 14 years (1884-1897) on the bronze bas-relief that forms the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Boston Common, and his monumental sculpture of General William Tecumseh Sherman was constructed at the corner of 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, in New York's Central Park (1892-1903).

Diagnosed with cancer in 1900, Augustus Saint-Gaudens died in the same year that his Ultra High Relief Double Eagle gold coins were created. Before he started, Saint-Gaudens modestly stated that "Whatever I produce cannot be worse than the inanities now displayed on our coins." His designs were masterpieces, but unfortunately it was so difficult for the United States Mint to produce these coins, that the relief was dramatically lowered in order to produce coins that circulated from 1907 through 1932. Note that "relief" refers to the height of the designs on the coin, in this instance to the impressive figure of Ms. Liberty on one side, and a majestic flying eagle on the reverse; and "Double Eagle" is what the $20 denomination gold coins were called.

While the 1907 Ultra High Relief Doube Eagle gold coins were minted from a little over one troy ounce of 90% pure gold, just a little over 100 years later, under the impetus of Mint Director Edmund C. Moy, the dream of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and President Theodore Roosevelt was finally realized, when the mint at last produced Ultra Hi Relief Double Eagle gold coins in 2009--weighing a full 1 oz. of 99.99% pure gold. Unfortunately, this "defining moment in American coinage" was made only for one year. The United States Mint stopped selling these coins after 2009, and now they can only be purchased from dealers, at auction, etc.

Former Mint Director Edmund Moy has agreed to personally autograph the Certificate of Authenticity and the accompanying book for just 88 of the magnificent Ultra High Relief Double Eagles. These are available exclusively from Morgan Gold, one of America's leading bullion dealers, having delivered billions of dollars in gold and silver to investors and collectors since 1963. For further information, call 800-585-1773 or visit http://www.morgangold.com.

Mel Wacks is a member of the Numismatic Literary Guild, a 50-year member of the American Numismatic Association, and a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society. He has won four writing awards from the Numismatic Literary Guild and the Presidential Award from the American Numismatic Association.

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