Follow the lead picture post $20 Saint

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Has to do with the curvature of the dies producing a blase strike and look:

From Roger Burdette's SAINT GAUDENS DOUBLE EAGLES book, which I consider the Bible for Saint collectors.

"...However, certain aspects of the dies must be understood within the context of overall appearance. Coins from the original short ray obverse – Philadelphia or Denver Mints – will not have the sharpness of a long ray version. This is because many areas of the original die were fuzzy and would not appear sharply stuck regardless of the amount of care taken in making the coins.

Several areas are consistently weak. These include Liberty’s nose, across the center of her chest, her left knee and foreleg, and her right knee. In the periphery, all stars are softly formed and look as if they are “out of focus” when compared to other parts of the same coin. There are also a few spots where die detailing is excessive, the most evident of these is the capitol building where every stroke of Barber’s graver is crisp; yet, the adjacent stars are balls of fuzz. On the reverse the eagle’s lower body is usually inadequately defined. These problem areas are largely the result of poorly detailed dies and should not be indicators of inadequately struck coins.

A further problem relating to appearance is the irregular texture of fields on both sides. Some parts are smooth, others lightly textured and still others rough and seemingly unfinished. Much of this is due to the uneven die radius of Saint-Gaudens’ designs. The fields do not have a single smooth curve, but change curvature at several points. This made mechanical resurfacing using an emery wheel impossible, and the coining department die setters, and engraving depart-ment die sinkers and engravers had to do all repair by hand. To help hide fine scratches left behind by an emery stick, repair was followed by local use of a cotton swab dipped in weak acid. Every repair was different and every result was different. If the acid was too strong or left on too long, the affected part of the die surface became rough. If no acid was used, or too little, the area remained smoother than adjacent untouched portions."