Renaissance of American Coinage

The topic of today’s video and discussion is the renaissance period of American Coinage, that is the time period of 1907-1921 when American coinage was once again beautifully designed and struck.

Normally coins issued by governments are pieces of metal, usually in the form of a thin disk, onto which a design has been stamped. Coins are intended to represent an exchange value in commerce. Today, the face value of circulating coins is almost always far greater than the intrinsic value of the material from which the coins are made. Thus, they are purely representational in nature. This has not always been the case. In the not too distant past, prior to the time governments, including the U.S. Government, decided to grossly debase their currencies, coins actually contained silver, gold or platinum in nearer proportion to the face value of the coin.

Through history some coins have been beautifully designed and minted. Others have been notoriously ugly. United States coins are no different. Our discussion of today’s video and accompanying blog post is about American coinage from the period 1907-1921 and its fascinating design and accomplished minting. This was after a lengthy period of less than stellar production by the US Mint.

Most distinguished were the double eagle and eagle gold coins – that is the $20.00 and $10.00 denominations. Exceptionally well designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens and exquisitely struck in fine gold the 1907 double eagle required up to 11 strikes to achieve the desired high relief result. It was accompanied by a $10 gold eagle coin which was similarly beautiful. By 1909 two other Saint Gaudens designed gold coins were in circulation, the $5 half eagle and the $2.50 quarter eagle. The period from 1907-1921 saw the complete revision of all circulating US coins, including the magnificent Buffalo nickel and the Lincoln penny.

To view the video click on the link below.

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