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President Roosevelt directs Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou to find out when the coins will be ready. He wants to know exactly how many high relief coins will be produced. After much delay, Roosevelt will not wait anymore.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-22
President Roosevelt asks George E. Roberts to take “special and peculiar care” in cutting the coin designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He is not sure how long it will be allowed to be produced, but wants to have the United States “do something in the way of artistic expression.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-26
President Roosevelt apologizes to the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens that he cannot strike the gold coins that Saint-Gaudens designed with only one blow and therefore the designs are not practical as “true coinage of the country.” He encloses a letter from the head of the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum. Roosevelt asks Saint-Gaudens if he could travel to the United States Mint and work with others to find a solution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-08
President Roosevelt inquires if Augustus Saint-Gaudens could incorporate a Native American feathered head-dress in the design of his coins. United States Mint Director George E. Roberts has told Roosevelt that the newest batch of coin dies are near testing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-08
President Roosevelt sends Augustus Saint-Gaudens a copy of a letter he just sent to Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw. He is delighted that Saint-Gaudens is making good progress on the new coin design and requests that Saint-Gaudens show the design when he has it ready.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-26
President Roosevelt tells Secretary of the Treasury Shaw that he does not see any reason for not putting the date on the coin in numerals. He says that under no circumstances should Augustus Saint-Gaudens make any reference to the president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-26
Augustus Saint-Gaudens offers his opinion on the minting of the new twenty dollar gold coin to President Roosevelt. Saint-Gaudens far prefers the standing eagle to the flying eagle for a variety of reasons. The standing eagle is more dignified, it balances the “figure of Liberty” on the other side, and it eliminates the sunburst on both sides.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-23
Tweed Roosevelt describes the collaboration between President Theodore Roosevelt and the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to improve the design and appearance of American coins. In doing so, Tweed Roosevelt notes the publication of Michael F. Moran’s book, Striking Change, that chronicles the combined efforts of the president and the sculptor. Tweed Roosevelt highlights his family’s connection to the twenty dollar gold coin designed by Saint-Gaudens, noting that his aunt, Eleanor Butler Roosevelt, and his grandfather, Archibald Roosevelt, both had examples of these coins.
Photographs of Tweed Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens appear in the essay along with photographs of one of Saint-Gaudens’s sculptures and both sides of the twenty dollar gold coin.
Secretary of the Treasury Shaw sends President Roosevelt copies of correspondence between him and Augustus Saint-Gaudens regarding the design of coins and asks for Roosevelt’s judgment on the matter. Shaw wished for his views to be on the record.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-26
Series of editorials on liquor sales, wage earners, labor unions, and the two and a half cent coin.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-09