1907 'ultra' $20 Double Eagle makes $1.1m at Heritage Auctions

A 1907 ultra high relief $20 Double Eagle featuring a rare font has sold for $1.1m at Heritage Auctions' US Coins Signature Auction.

The Proof 58 PCGS-graded coin is one of just two examples that contain the sans serif font along the edge - an early feature that was not continued in later strikes.

1907 ultra high relief Double Eagle
Just two 1907 $20 ultra high reliefs feature sans serif writing along the edge

The 1907 $20 gold coins were the first designed by Irish-born sculptor August Saint-Gaudens, yet problems in producing the ultra high relief pieces saw just 22-24 examples struck.

Saint-Gaudens had foreseen difficulties in producing the coins, as he detailed in a letter to the US treasury secretary Leslie Mortier Shaw a year earlier.

"I think it would be best to know at once if there are not some inflexible modern requirements that necessitate extreme flatness," he wrote.

The result follows the $2.8m sale in June of a Proof 69 PCGS-graded example, testament to the considerable importance collectors attach to condition.

A high relief, flat rim version of the 1907 coin, graded Mint State 64 NGC, sold for $64,625 at the same August 3 auction.

The sale also featured a strong performance from an 1802 proof Draped Bust $1. The PR 65 Cameo PCGS coin sold for $851,875, while a 1921 Saint-Gaudens $20 made $587,500. The Mint State 65 PCGS coin is one of just four versions to achieve the 65 grade or higher.

Paul Fraser Collectibles will continue to bring you more of the latest coin auction news throughout the year, so make sure you check back regularly.

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