In a thread below, I commented on how I think that the Liberty $20 gold piece is beautiful in its own right, and seems to get a bit overshadowed by the St. Gaudens.
In my quest for beautiful gold coins, I thought that fate should decide; I posted maximum bids for two coins from dealers I have purchased from in the past. One was a nice common date $20 Liberty (NGC MS63), while the other was a $20 St. Gauden (NGC MS63 common date). Both auctions ended in the last 15 minutes, and this beautiful lady was left standing..............(drum roll please!)

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I know this picture isn't the best, but this Saint appears to have nice luster and a minimum of distracting marks for an MS63. Thanks for listening!

Thrilled in Phoenix,

Doug

What a beautiful coin! Of course one of the things you'll learn quickly is that common date Saints are often less expensive in grades above MS-62 than common date Libs, which goes back to the non-circulation factors for double eagles in the 20th century!

A word of caution though, be careful with these coins, they are quite addictive!

I guess the Saints vs. Libs debate goes to the question of whether coins should be designed by artists first, who might not understand some of the limitations of the minting process, or by mint engravers, who might not have the artistic sensibilities to deliver a truly beautiful coin.

Part of the problem with today's coins, I think, is that they're so flat. Look at a '67 quarter compared to a '97 or SQ. Any flatter, and why bother striking 'em in the first place? It's among the reasons I'm so looking forward to the real bronze Lincolns in '09.

I agree. It is one thing to try and design a coin that wears down well, as opposed to trying to design a coin that shows little to no signs of wear. I think the Mint is trying to do the latter rather than the former and thus the current offerings.

I like Saints, don't get me wrong, they are truly lovely coins. But I cannot easily settle for less than a MCMVII in high relief with wire rims in MS-65+.

And if that's the tradeoff, I think they've made the wrong decision. Besides the fact that the coins just look flat (no pun intended) awful compared to their older, higher relief versions, imagine collecting forty years from now. "*Another* Wisconsin SQ in AU? I got a pocket full of the doggone things, they're worth face. The things don't wear!" --OR-- "What's this featureless disc?" "Well, it used to be one of the old low-relief quarters... once it showed any wear, it became a slug."