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US $20 Gold Piece
1907
 The
gold standard was an international monetary system in the nineteenth
and twentieth century that was based on gold into and from which
paper money
was convertible. It was theorized that this cycle could continue indefinitely
and act as an automatic regulator. This was true prior to the outbreak
of World War I (1914-1918) when the central banks of the major world powers,
including the United States, Britain, France and Germany, had large gold reserves
whose primary purpose was to act as a means of stabilizing the international
value of the currency against fluctuations
resulting from trade deficits or surpluses. In the case of a trade deficit,
gold would flow out to meet the deficit and prices would fall. This fall
would stimulate a rise in exports resulting in a trade surplus and the inflow
of gold.
However, during World War I enormous strains were placed on this
monetary system causing its collapse, and the convertibility of paper
money into
gold was suspended. After the war, the major world powers attempted to
return to the gold standard in order to stabilize the value of the currencies
and create a secure foundation for the re-establishment of international trade,
but only the United States was successful due to the large influx of gold that
it had received from Europe during the war.
This $20 gold piece was minted at the request of President Theodore
Roosevelt in 1907. He decided that the country needed more
artistic coins since the current ones were dull and boring, especially
when compared
to those of the ancient Greeks. Augustus St. Gaudens was commissioned to
design a coin in high relief which meant that the details of the coin were raised
higher than the rims of the coin. To accomplish this, the coins had to
be struck multiple times. This proved to be so difficult that the US Mint
was only able to produce 11,250. This coin, considered one of the most
beautiful ever made in the United States, symbolizes the importance of gold in
the American monetary system during this period.
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