Saint-Gaudens Cent (an almost coin)! Many of you might be surprised to know that the United States ALMOST had a Saint-Gaudens Cent, that probably would have been minted beginning around 1908 and continued for most of the 20th century. Theodore Roosevelt, who served as President from 1901 to 1909, was the only U.S President known to have taken a deep interest in U.S coinage designs. In 1905, President Roosevelt viewed a number of high-relief coins of Ancient Greece on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. Admiring the ancient coins sculptured relief and artistry, he felt the U.S. coins in production at the time were derivative and uninspired in comparison. Roosevelt then challenged his new friend and renowned artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign the entire line of American coinage from the Cent to the Double Eagle to new and more artistic standards. However, under the terms of an 1890 law that governed coinage designs of the United States, coin designs had to be in place for at least 25 years before changes could be made without the approval of congress. As a result, the coins that were legal to change in 1905 without congressional approval included the one cent piece and the four gold coins only. Roosevelt empowered Augustus Saint-Gaudens to undertake this task and granted him “complete artistic freedom within the limit of coinage law.” Unfortunately Saint-Gaudens, who was 56 at the time, was in failing health and only had time to complete the redesign of the $10 and $20 Gold coins -- and was only able to make sketches and plaster models for a redesigned one cent coin -- before he died in 1907 at the age of 58. So if Saint-Gaudens' One Cent sketches and models had made it to fruition, we may have had a small cent of this approximate design for a good portion of the 20th Century. More on the two completed Gold Coin designs While the resulting Saint-Gaudens $20 Gold design is one of the most beautiful and best known in history, an early plaster sketch sculpted by the artist in 1907 shows two dramatically different elements. This “lost” Winged Liberty design, a precursor to the finished version, shows Liberty as she would ultimately appear on the new coin, except that she was portrayed with large, billowing wings and with a feathered headdress. Until recently this plaster sketch was “lost” within Saint-Gaudens’ studio archives and few were aware of its existence. Finally, it was re-discovered when his New Hampshire studio was made a National Historic Site & opened to the public. While this beautiful design was never actually struck as a U.S. coin, the original plaster sketch was authenticated by the National Guaranty Corporation (NGC). At President Roosevelt’s insistence, the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” was omitted from the designs of the new $10 and $20 gold pieces. This phrase had appeared on the Liberty Head gold coins for over half a century. Roosevelt was not an atheist, but he firmly believed the coinage of the United States was an improper place for a religious motto. The phrase, “IN GOD WE TRUST,” first appeared on the two-cent pieces beginning in 1864 but it was not mandated. In fact, the Coinage Act of 1873 stated that this motto be inscribed on coins as space and design “permitted.” At President Roosevelt’s insistence, when the new eagle and double eagle coins appeared in 1907, the motto had been omitted. However, following a public outcry, Congress ordered it restored on the gold pieces and the Act of May 18, 1908 made it mandatory on all coins upon which it had heretofore appeared. No American coin design has escaped criticism and the $10 Gold Eagle of Saint-Gaudens was no exception. The Caucasian features on the Indian was criticized and those interested in the authentic representation of the American Indian quickly pointed out that no American Indian woman ever wore a war bonnet. The eagle on the reverse also came under criticism. The leg feathers, ornithologists claimed, were those of a Golden Eagle, not the American Bald Eagle, our national bird. Saint-Gaudens' impact on popular and acclaimed Coin Designs of the 20th Century Saint-Gaudens was a master of the portrait relief. His work in bas-relief (low relief) is unsurpassed to this day and compares with the finest work of the 15th Century Masters in Europe. Saint-Gaudens was a tireless teacher from 1888 to 1897. An entire new generation of sculptors studied under Saint-Gaudens or became his assistants. It is to his credit that the designers of the Buffalo Nickel, Mercury Dime, Standing Liberty and Washington Quarter, Walking Liberty Half Dollar and $2.50 and $5 Gold Indians were students and/or assistants of Saint-Gaudens. Roosevelt and Saint Gaudens It should be no surprise that these two immensely talented men (Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens) would form a mutual admiration society between themselves. Saint-Gaudens would first become involved with Roosevelt on an artistic level when asked to produce an inaugural medallion for the President’s first full term. On January 18, 1905 at the White House, Saint-Gaudens capitulated to Roosevelt’s forceful plea to create an inauguration medal that would be worthy of the event. It was at this meeting that Roosevelt and Secretary of the Treasury Shaw asked Saint-Gaudens to consider new designs for United States coins. The medal that resulted from this January day was of supreme artistic merit. Especially notable was the impressive reverse of the medal that featured a heroic eagle on a cliff. This had been a device that U.S coin design Charles E. Barber rejected back in 1892! Roosevelt said it best in a letter to his friend: “Thank heaven we have at last some artistic work of permanent worth, done for the government.” The reverse eagle design on this inaugural medal was later adopted for use on the $2.5, $5, and $10 Gold Pieces. Summary We as coin collectors really owe a lot to this great designer of the 18th and early 19th Century. And certainly it would have been interesting if there had been a Saint-Gaudens Cent. I wonder how many more collectors might have gotten hooked by this potentially beautiful copper coin, which some might say (looking that the plaster model) could have had more artistic merit than the more pedestrian Lincoln Cent that followed in 1909. I also have to say that I had no idea (until I researched this) of Saint-Gaudens impact on some of the most artistically renowned coin designs of the 20th Century -- That all of those collector favorite designs posted above were designed by students of Saint-Gaudens. [Final Note: Please note that I did discovery on this by doing web searches, so please excuse any mistakes in facts, I did the best I could based on what i could find!!! Sometimes information on the web is in conflict, so I attempted to piece things together to the best of my ability. I am sure there are true experts on this subject out there. Clearly not me!]
:hail: Thanks so much, WingedLiberty, for the numismatic history and photos. Very informative and enjoyable!
Yes ! Thanks, WL, for this piece. Here's a little Augustus Saint-Gaudens trivia... his wife was named Augusta ! That's right... Augustus and Augusta ! What are the odds ? Their close friends called 'em Gus and Gussie.
I'd include the Oregon Trail Half as a Honorable Mention, Mr. and Mrs. Fraser worked on it. Laura Gardin Fraser was pretty dang good herself. I loved the design she had for the 1932 Washington quarter...67 years later it ended up on a modern $5 gold commemorative coin. The 1922 U.S. Grant Half is her design also.
Wow, thanks for the information! Interesting to see all the "could-have been" coins designed by him... But...IMHO, Honest Abe is still better than his Liberty cent idea.
That design was supposed to be our 1932-1998 quarter! The mint director nixed it when she won the competition because he thought it wasn't a woman's place to design coins! She won the design competition fair and square! I think it is criminal that it was never our quarter, and believe that the mint should have adopted the design after the state quarters, instead of this parks crap. I'd love to see this design reign on quarters for the next 80-100 years!
His cent obverse is easily my favorite cent obverse ever. Truly a man who was excellent at his craft.
