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Message:: [QUOTE="GoldFinger1969, post: 24610543, member: 73489"]Here's another auction sale commentary: A Pre-Wells Fargo Example / 1908 $20 No Motto MS67 PCGS Secure. CAC. Long Rays Obverse. The original No Motto, Arabic Numerals, Low Relief subtype continued into a second and final year, with Philadelphia and Denver both striking examples, while San Francisco would produce only the later With Motto version. Congress, despite President Theodore Roosevelt's contention that any reference to the deity on coinage was tantamount to sacrilege, mandated that IN GOD WE TRUST be placed on the gold pieces, and the motto was accordingly added just above the sun device at the lower reverse. The Philadelphia Mint struck an enormous quantity of more than 4.2 million No Motto coins, a production total that would be surpassed only with the 1924 and 1928 issues. The 1908 No Motto twenties as an issue are, of course, best-known for their relation to the fabulous Wells Fargo Hoard, a collection of more than 19,000 specimens of the issue that dealer Ron Gillio bought in the 1990s. As quoted in Bowers' double eagle Guide Book, Gillio writes concerning the hoard: "Of all the different hoards I have bought in Europe, Asia, America, and elsewhere, this group of 1908s is the most interesting and highest quality group I have ever purchased. Here is the basic story, although some details must remain confidential: "In the 1990s I bought 19,900 pieces of 1908 No Motto twenties. The coins were stored in one place in bags of 500 coins, each with a seal. The seals on the bags of all 19,900 coins were all dated in the 1960s. When I first met with the owners there were several people involved, and I was on hand with a colleague. They had a special book that in which we had to register before they opened the first bag. The book contained the seal number and the date of the seal. We had to sign this book for every bag they opened. The person opening the bags was the person who sealed them originally. "At first glance I could tell the coins were fantastic and of high quality -- as the bags were never tossed around or recounted over the years, in contrast to most bank hoards. ... Gillio goes on to explain that except for rebagging from the original bags, which had deteriorated, the coins had remained "unmoved and untouched since 1917!" For the coins that were sent to PCGS, approximately half of the total, David Hall takes up the story on PCGS' Coin Facts website: "The hoard contained thousands of superb Gems graded MS66 by PCGS, nearly 1000 coins graded MS67 by PCGS, 101 coins graded MS68 by PCGS, and 10 virtually perfect gems graded MS69 by PCGS, the only Saints ever graded MS69 by PCGS (as of 2009)." Today, a single MCMVII High Relief joins the 10 Wells Fargo 1908 No Mottos at the incredible MS69 level (10/11). The massive hoard made high-grade examples of the No Motto issues far more available for a price than they had been in the past, and made the coins among the most plentiful and well-produced Saint-Gaudens issues in the certified populations. Dr. Steven Duckor purchased the present specimen, a coin that predates discovery of the hoard, in 1982. This Superb Gem is one of the few finest pre-Wells Fargo coins (there are two non-Wells Fargo examples finer, one in MS67+, one in MS68). This sharply struck, lustrous example shows lush mint-green and orange-gold competing for territory on each side, with lilac accents and sparkling luster. The obverse has more orange-gold toward the center yielding to jade-green near the rims, while the two hues intermingle on the reverse. The surfaces show a typical fine-grained, matte-like texture. Even a loupe reveals remarkably few signs of contact, of even the smallest sort. Ex: David Akers. /  From The Dr. and Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection.[/QUOTE]

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