Despite objections from President Theodore Roosevelt, Congress mandated that the motto IN GOD WE TRUST be added to the Saint-Gaudens double eagle and other U.S. coinage. While Roosevelt felt the motto distracted from the Saint-Gaudens design, he yielded to public outcry and Congressional will. All of the 1908 With Motto twenties (Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco) are scarce in Gem Uncirculated condition and rare any finer, although the 1908-D Motto benefits from several high-grade examples found in Central America in 1983.
The Philadelphia Mint found it impossible to polish the basined surfaces and high relief devices of the new Saint-Gaudens design in the same manner as the old brilliant proofs of previous years. Accordingly, they adopted an artistic matte, or sandblast, finish for gold proof coins in 1908. After striking, the 1908 proofs were heavily sandblasted with a coarse grain of sand that produced a dark olive-gold patina, with none of the reflective fields and field-device contrast of earlier proofs. The resulting finish resembled that seen on some European medals of the period, but contemporary U.S. collectors much preferred the old brilliant proof finish. Mint records indicate only 101 proof double eagles were distributed in 1908. Remaining unsold pieces were subsequently melted. Probably no more than 60 to 70 examples survive today in all grades. In hand, the color is more of a yellow-gold than the reddish-orange seen in our images. The PCGS population is only 5 with 3 higher.
Offered at $145, 700 delivered
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The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the reverse of the double eagle design in 1866 and the Philadelphia Mint struck 698,775 coins with the new motif. The coins circulated heavily in the 19th century and few high-quality examples were saved by contemporary collectors. The issue is prized by type collectors today, as the first year of the Type Two design, but examples in MS62 condition are very rare, and finer coins are virtually unobtainable. In hand, the color of this coin tends a bit more towards yellow gold, as opposed to the orange-gold seen in our images. This is the only PCGS MS63, with a single (MS64) example graded higher.
Offered at $59,100 delivered
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