One of the most beautiful US gold coins on the market right now is the ultra-high relief Double Gold Eagle by St. Gaudens. This particular coin design has often been revered as one of the most beautiful on the market, and St. Gaudens’ graceful sculpture is as lovely today as it ever was. Here’s a bit of interesting history behind this gorgeous piece of American history and some information on where you might be able to find it.
When St. Gaudens first created the Liberty Walking design for the Gold Eagle coin, he intended for the design to be pressed into high relief in the coins. Basically, when a coin is minted, two carved mallets are smashed into a round piece of metal. To make a high relief coin, you have to have a thicker piece of metal and a specially designed relief mold. Plus, you’ll probably stamp the coin more than once to ensure that it takes up as much details as possible from the mold.
The process of making ultra-high relief coins is long and laborious, which means that they are sold as expensive collector’s items. However, instead of ending up with a mere coin, you’ll actually end up with a beautiful, artistic artifact from history. Not only will the coin be stamped with the date when it was minted, but it will also show one of the favorite coin designs in American history.
So, why weren’t these high-relief coins first minted when St. Gaudens was still alive? The US Mint tried to put out a few of these coins then, but they were too large and wouldn’t stack properly for shipping, so the project was given up on. Instead, some non-circulating versions of the coin were minted, as were proof versions which showed more detail, as well.
Now, though, coin minting technology is such that the government can actually make a go of this interesting project, which is why ultra-high relief US gold coins are now available. One of the main things that was done to solve the stacking problem was to create an edge on the coin that would make it easier to stack up and transport.
This twenty-four karat gold coin is no longer being sold through the US Mint, but you might be able to find your copy online from various coin dealers. Either way, it would be an interesting coin to add to an investment in gold or a numismatic collection.