Featured The Saint-Gaudens Cent (an almost coin)

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by WingedLiberty, Jul 1, 2014.

  1. WingedLiberty

    WingedLiberty Well-Known Member

    (I wrote and posted this on another forum a few years back, thought some on this board might be interested in reading)

    Some of you might be surprised to learn that the United States ALMOST had a Saint-Gaudens Cent, that probably would have been minted beginning around 1907 or 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.

    [​IMG]

    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.

    [​IMG]


    More on the two completed Gold Coin designs

    While the resulting Saint-Gaudens $20 Gold design is one of the most beautiful and renowned in history, an early plaster sketch sculpted by the artist shows two dramatically different elements. This "lost" Winged Liberty design, a precursor to the finished version, shows Miss Liberty as she would ultimately appear on the new coin, except that she was portrayed with 1.) large, billowing wings and 2.) a feathered headdress. Until recently this plaster sketch was lost within Saint-Gaudens's 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 ([L=link]http://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm[/L]) & 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).

    [​IMG]


    God or No God?

    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".

    Everybody is a Critic

    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.

    [​IMG]


    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.

    [​IMG]


    Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens

    It should be no surprise that these two immensely talented men (Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens) would become friends and collaborators. 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 designer 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.

    [​IMG]


    Summary

    We as coin collectors really owe a lot to this great designer of the 19th and early 20th 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 I think some might say (looking that the plaster model) could have had more artistic merit than the more pedestrian (but still quite popular) 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" coin designs posted above were designed by students of Saint-Gaudens!! You can certainly see the impact of their teacher in the artistry. And, who knows, there might be many fewer coin collectors today if not for these premier artistic coin designs (seemingly some of the most cherished and loved types) that inspired millions, and came into being due to the influence (direct or indirect) of this great man and artist.


    Disclaimer

    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 (not me).
     
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  3. WingedLiberty

    WingedLiberty Well-Known Member

    Here is a shot of the proposed reverse ...

    By the way "Collection of SGNHS" means Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site.

    I have never been a fan of dates on the reverse though. (Hopefully, the date would have eventually been moved to the obverse before finalizing!)

    It's interesting that the model had a date of 1907.

    [​IMG]
     
    Blissskr, NOS, Ardatirion and 4 others like this.
  4. robec

    robec Junior Member

    Thanks for posting this. I never knew about the St.Gauden's one center.

    I like the obverse much better than the reverse, although the obverse reminds me a little of the Barber quarter and half dollar.

    Either way, I love St.Gauden's work and wish our coinage of today would reflect more of that artistic design.
     
  5. Chiefbullsit

    Chiefbullsit CRAZY HORSE

    I agree, the obverse is the better side. The reverse looks like a modern day commemorative coin. Love most of his and his students coins. They had a tremendous influence on what I collect today. Thanks for posting again WL.



    Fraser09.jpg
     
    Ed Sims and NOS like this.
  6. quarter-back

    quarter-back Active Member

    Boy, It's a shame that this reverse design was not used when the memorial series was replaced.
     
  7. vlaha

    vlaha Respect. The. Hat.

    "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."

    True, true, but what they didn't know was that in the 17th and 18th centuries medals usually depicted America as an Indian "princess" with a headdress. I think it likely that St. Gaudians would be familiar with some of these designs.

    "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."

    A golden eagle?


    :D :D :D
     
  8. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    Actually it states that it MAY be inscribed if the Mint Director desires it and the Sec of the Treasury approves. It was not mandatory. That was why Roosevelt felt he could direct that it not appear. He did check the law and in his writings to Saint-Gaudens stated that finding it was not mandatory that he did not want it on the coins.

    Thereby making the design of the buffalo nickel technically illegal as the motto had appeared on the five cent piece previously from 1866 - 1883.

    (A little heresy coming here)
    While Saint-Gaudens is given credit for the eagle and double eagle, he was constantly involved with several projects which he considered more important than the coinage design. He did come up with the ideas, and did some rough sketches (These can be seen in Roger Burdette's Renaissance of American coinage 1907 - 1908. And they are rough!) but he was also in very poor health and I believe that most of the actual modeling and other work was done by his assistant Henson.
     
  9. Jess Sutton

    Jess Sutton New Member

    Always liked his work. I wish some of our current coinage would be as artistic as these older designs
     
  10. dwhiz

    dwhiz Collector Supporter

    Maybe Daniel Carr could do an over strike of this OneCent_ObvRev.jpg
     
  11. micbraun

    micbraun coindiccted

    Dito, the shown pattern looks like real art compared to the boring designs on the Lincoln cents. I know... all Lincoln collectors hate me now but I can live with that ;-)
     
  12. Aidan_()

    Aidan_() Numismatic Contributor

    Well, it's 'bout time this thread is featured.
     
  13. onecenter

    onecenter Member

    A very fine article. I never knew about a possible St. Gaudens cent. Although it is the coin to my left that made my collecting interest blossom 45 years ago, Augustus St. Gaudens exemplified what could have been and strongly influenced what came about in the Golden Age of post-Barber coinage.
     
  14. jello

    jello Not Expert★NormL®

    One very good post and well researched .
    :)
     
  15. chicken_little

    chicken_little Active Member

    Thank you for posting! I never knew about this, even though Saint Gaudens designs are my favorite designs! Like others have posted, I wish our current coinage was as beautiful and majestic as they were in the first half of the 1900's. his coins are truly beautiful, each one being a masterful work of art.
     
    onecenter likes this.
  16. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    Dat Laura?
     
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