The St Gaudens double eagle coin has a rich and fascinating history. This coin is sometimes called the double eagle coin and the Saint Gaudens Double Eagle offering is aptly named after its designer. St. Gaudens was an artist and sculptor responsible for the original design on the St Gaudens double eagle coins minted between 1907 and 1933. Newer coins have replicated his work and added some features to his first design too. Each coin has the marks of the original designer situated just beneath the minting date of the St Gaudens double eagle coin.
The double eagle coin offering was originally minted in three different locations. Those coins marked with a P after the date were created in the Philadelphia Mint; those coins that have a D after the date are minted in the Denver Mint, and the St Gaudens coins minted in the San Francisco Mint are marked with an S after the date of minting. All of the coins have an obverse work consisting of Lady Liberty as she holds up a torch signifying freedom as well as an olive branch; the backdrop of the coin reveals the capital of the United States of America. On every St Gaudens double eagle coin reverse side a gold eagle is presented that is soaring over the sun.
Since Theodore Roosevelt started an effort to make coins more attractive, the sculptor St. Gaudens was hired to beautify the double eagle coin among other coin offerings. The artist managed to complete the St Gaudens double eagle coin as well as the Indian Eagle coin before his passing. During the original creation of the St Gaudens double eagle coin there were many mistakes made as minters perfected the coin making process. From 1917 to 1919 no St double eagle coins were made, and production of the coin ceased in 1933. Between 1907 and 1908, several St Gaudens double eagle coin offerings were made that without the “In God We Trust” motto; once it became law to have the motto on the coins, it was added.