Some coin designs are remembered fondly. This one is remembered as a fight between an artist’s vision and the limits of early 20th-century machinery. When President Theodore Roosevelt asked sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to reimagine American gold coinage in 1905, he wasn’t looking for a modest update. He wanted American money to carry the artistic weight of a nation coming into its own. What Saint-Gaudens delivered a striding, full-length Liberty and a soaring eagle rendered in extraordinarily high relief pushed Mint technology of the era to its breaking point, and the resulting 1907 High Relief double eagle became one of the most celebrated coins in American history.
Now, 119 years later, that design returns. On September 24, 2026, at 12 noon Eastern Time, the United States Mint will release the Best of the Mint 1907 Saint-Gaudens High Relief $20 Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set, product number 26BM5. This release closes out the Mint’s five-part Best of the Mint Semiquincentennial series, marking America’s 250th anniversary and it does so by bringing back arguably the most famous gold coin design the country has ever produced.
Specifications at a Glance
Gold Saint-Gaudens Coin
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Denomination | $20 |
| Finish | Uncirculated |
| Composition | 99.99% gold |
| Precious Metal Weight | 1.000 troy ounce gold |
| Diameter | 1.205 inches / 30.61 mm |
| Edge | Raised lettering (E PLURIBUS UNUM) |
| Mint | West Point |
| Mint Mark | None |
Silver Companion Medal
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Denomination | None (medal, not legal tender) |
| Finish | Uncirculated |
| Composition | 99.9% silver |
| Precious Metal Weight | 1.000 troy ounce silver |
| Diameter | 1.598 inches / 40.60 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Philadelphia |
| Mint Mark | None listed |
Set-Level Details
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Product Number | 26BM5 |
| Release Date | September 24, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern Time |
| Mintage Limit | 15,000 sets |
| Household Order Limit | 1 |
| Price | Listed as TBD as of September 6, 2026 |
| Series Position | Fifth and final release in the Best of the Mint Semiquincentennial series |
For historical comparison, the original 1907 High Relief double eagle contained 90% gold and 10% copper, weighed approximately 33.4 grams, measured about 34 mm across, and held roughly 0.9675 troy ounce of pure gold. The 2026 issue is not a metallurgical reproduction it’s struck in modern 24-karat, one-ounce gold format instead.
Ordering Process: Dates, Limits, and Availability
Here’s what collectors need to know to actually acquire this set:
- Release date and time: September 24, 2026, at 12:00 noon Eastern Time, directly through the U.S. Mint’s official ordering channels.
- Product number: 26BM5, useful for searching or bookmarking the item ahead of release.
- Mintage limit: Capped at 15,000 sets the same low ceiling used for the previous 1804 Silver Dollar Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set, and notably lower than the 30,000-unit limits used for the series’ first three releases.
- Household order limit: One set per household, a standard Mint practice for limited-mintage releases designed to give more collectors a fair shot at ordering.
- Pricing: As of September 6, 2026, the Mint had not yet published a retail price, listing it as TBD. Given that the gold coin contains a full troy ounce, expect the issue price to sit well above the smaller fractional-ounce coins earlier in the series.
- Availability of earlier releases: As of the same date, the Mint’s website showed uneven availability across the series — the Mercury Dime set was listed as unavailable, the Standing Liberty Quarter set remained orderable, the Walking Liberty set was on backorder, and the 1804 Dollar set remained available. This pattern is worth watching, since it suggests demand (and stock) can shift quickly once a set sells through its mintage.
Given the low 15,000 mintage ceiling and the set’s status as the series finale, collectors interested in acquiring one are advised to be ready to order at or near the exact release time.
Historical Background
Theodore Roosevelt’s Vision for American Coinage
The story behind this coin begins not with a design brief, but with a president’s frustration. Theodore Roosevelt looked at the coinage of his era and saw an opportunity for something greater than routine currency he envisioned coins as a kind of national canvas, capable of reflecting America’s growing stature on the world stage. In 1905, he personally approached sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to help realize that vision, setting in motion one of the most dramatic design efforts in U.S. Mint history.
Saint-Gaudens’ Ambitious Design
Saint-Gaudens didn’t aim for a modest refresh of existing motifs. He created a full-length Liberty striding forward, torch raised in her right hand and an olive branch in her left, with the sun rising behind her and the U.S. Capitol visible in the distance. On the reverse, an eagle sweeps across the rays of another rising sun. It was less a coin design than sculpture rendered at the scale of currency and that ambition immediately collided with the practical limits of contemporary minting technology.
The earliest attempts pushed the design into extraordinary relief. These Ultra High Relief experimental pieces required repeated blows from a hydraulic press the Smithsonian notes that producing the earliest examples could take as many as nine strikes. Fewer than two dozen Ultra High Relief pieces were ever made. The Mint then reduced the relief to a more workable level, but even that compromise required multiple strikes on slower equipment. Philadelphia ultimately produced a limited run of High Relief double eagles before Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber lowered the relief further to allow normal high-speed production.
Saint-Gaudens never lived to see the final circulating version he died of cancer in August 1907, and his assistant, Henry Hering, carried the work forward. By December of that year, Barber’s lower-relief version, bearing an Arabic “1907” date rather than the High Relief coin’s Roman numeral “MCMVII,” entered regular production.
An Uncertain Mintage, A Celebrated Legacy
Even the exact mintage of the original 1907 High Relief double eagle carries some ambiguity. The U.S. Mint’s fiscal 1908 annual report lists 12,153 High Relief double eagles from the second model, while later numismatic research has cited figures ranging from roughly 12,000 to more than 12,700 pieces, depending on how strikes, melts, and other production records are counted. What’s not in dispute is the coin’s legendary status it’s widely regarded as one of the most beautiful coins the United States has ever produced, and its story of artistic ambition colliding with industrial limitation has only deepened its appeal over time.
In 2009, the Mint used modern technology to finally realize Saint-Gaudens’ original Ultra High Relief concept as a one-ounce, 24-karat gold coin something 1907 equipment simply couldn’t achieve. The 2026 release adds another chapter to that ongoing story, bringing the High Relief composition back in a new modern gold format for America’s 250th anniversary.
Description of the Obverse and Reverse
Gold Coin Obverse
Liberty strides forward, her long hair flowing behind her, carrying a torch in one hand and an olive branch in the other as sunrays fill the background and the Capitol rises in the distance a faithful return to Saint-Gaudens’ original composition. The inscriptions read “LIBERTY” and the Roman-numeral date “MCMVII,” matching the historic High Relief issue rather than the Arabic-numeral date used on the later circulation version. New to 2026 is a Liberty Bell privy mark containing the numeral “250,” tying the coin directly to the Semiquincentennial of American independence.
Gold Coin Reverse
Saint-Gaudens’ eagle flies left across the rays of a rising sun, rendered with the same dynamic energy that made the original design so distinctive. The inscriptions read “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “TWENTY DOLLARS.” The edge carries “E PLURIBUS UNUM” in raised lettering, consistent with the original coin’s design. The coin is struck at West Point and carries no mint mark.
Silver Medal Obverse and Reverse
Rather than reproducing the gold coin’s design, the companion silver medal offers a contemporary artistic response to it. U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Jesse Hernandez designed both sides. The obverse presents a new interpretation of Liberty, again carrying a torch and olive branch, surrounded by thirteen stars representing the original colonies, with the inscriptions “LIBERTY” and “MMXXVI.” The reverse reimagines Saint-Gaudens’ eagle in a striking way: its wings become an American flag as the bird rises above the sun, a composition meant to connect strength, national identity, and the promise of a new day. The inscription reads “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
Why This Matters for Collectors
- It closes out an ambitious five-part anniversary series. The Best of the Mint program was built from a public survey of 21 historic U.S. coins, narrowed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and finalized by the Secretary of the Treasury making this set the culmination of a genuinely curated tour through American numismatic art.
- It shares the series’ lowest mintage ceiling. At 15,000 sets, this release matches the tight limit used only once before in the series, for the 1804 Silver Dollar set, making it meaningfully scarcer than the first three 30,000-unit releases.
- It appeals to overlapping collector bases. Classic gold collectors recognize the original double eagle, modern bullion collectors know Saint-Gaudens’ Liberty from the American Gold Eagle program, and many collectors remember the celebrated 2009 Ultra High Relief release giving this coin unusually broad crossover appeal.
- The design carries real historical weight. The coin reproduces the original Roman-numeral “MCMVII” date and pairs it with a one-year-only Semiquincentennial privy mark, giving it a distinct identity from every other modern Saint-Gaudens gold product.
- Completing the set may hold long-term interest. Collectors who acquired the first four Best of the Mint releases may specifically seek this finale to complete a full five-set collection, a factor that could influence secondary-market interest over time though buying for genuine collecting interest, rather than speculative premium, remains the soundest approach.
Quick-Reference Buying Guide
- Mark your calendar for release day. The set becomes available September 24, 2026, at 12:00 noon Eastern Time plan to order at or near that exact time given the 15,000-unit mintage cap.
- Have the product number ready. Product 26BM5 will help you locate the exact listing quickly on the Mint’s ordering platform.
- Confirm the household order limit. Only one set per household is permitted, so coordinate in advance if multiple family members hope to acquire separate sets.
- Watch for the official price announcement. As of early September 2026, pricing remained TBD; check the Mint’s website in the days leading up to release for the confirmed issue price.
- Consider the full-ounce price point. Because this coin contains a full troy ounce of gold, expect a meaningfully higher price than the fractional-ounce coins earlier in the series budget accordingly.
- Decide if you’re completing the series. If you already own the first four Best of the Mint releases, factor in whether finishing the five-set collection matters for your collecting goals.
- Check current availability of earlier releases if collecting the full series. As of September 6, 2026, availability varied significantly across the first four sets some remained orderable while others were on backorder or unavailable.
- Keep original Mint packaging and documentation. For collectors interested in the complete five-set series long-term, retaining original packaging and certificates may add value and completeness to the collection.
