Unappreciated Beauty!
brokecollector
Posts: 71 ✭✭✭
The 2017 American Liberty gold coin is, in my opinion, one of the finest designs in recent mint history. You have to actually see it up close to really appreciate it. The detail of the high relief strike is simply amazing!
As an aside, what is the difference between high relief and ultra high relief?
The depiction of Liberty on this coin is superb, she is beautiful. The detail of the eagle on the reverse is amazing.
I hope the photos further the case!
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The concept of relief in coinage originally comes from sculpture, and simply refers to a sculpture in which figures project outward from a flat background. Coins are mini sculptures, so high relief refers to the distance from the “lowest point” of the field of a coin to the “highest point” of the sculpted, raised design. The fields of a coin are the areas that have no design, and are generally flat. For example, on the Saint-Gaudens $20 Gold Double Eagles, the fields have a noticeable slope.
While coins minted for everyday use have to meet such criteria as stackability, President Roosevelt wanted coin designers to equal or exceed the high reliefs achieved by the Greeks. After sculptor Saint-Gaudens died in 1907, Roosevelt continued to push the Mint to continue using his high relief patterns. The end result is the Ultra High Relief Saints, which are still considered some of the most stunning of all coins. (The patterns that produced these coins are themselves now worth millions.)
To achieve Ultra High Relief quality, individual coins must be repeatedly struck by the dies on special presses, with strikes of 172 tons pressure. According to the records of the U.S. Mint, fewer than 25 of the UHR Saints were produced, as they were too expensive and impractical for common use.
@TopographicOceans ... That is interesting... 172 tons of pressure on gold alloy... You say struck 'repeatedly', - is there a record of how many strikes the UHR required? Die alignment would also be critical in this process...It is a truly beautiful coin.... Cheers, RickO
I don't see much in its future. There are simply too many new issues and collectors have lost interest. The general public won't even know it exists unless it ends up being promoted on some home shopping show.