1908 Gold $20 Double Eagle Coin Saint Gaudens Philadelphia Mint - No Motto

After completing the Ultra-High-Relief patterns, Mint employees worked overtime to produce a sufficient quantity of High-Relief Double Eagles to satisfy the demands of President "Teddy" Roosevelt, knowing full well that the coins were not satisfactory for mass production because of the number of strikes required to produce each coin. A lower relief version of Saint Gauden's design was put into play and became known as the "No Motto" type because of the omission of the motto "In God We Trust". This motto first appeared on regular-issue coins in 1864 (theTwo-Cent piece) and had been required by law to appear on every U.S. coin thereafter. However, an oversight in the Coinage Act of 1892 (whether accidental or deliberate) amended the law so that the motto was no longer required. Roosevelt followed the letter of the law and the motto was left off the first new coins of 1907 (Saint Gaudens' Indian Head Eagle and the subject Double Eagle). A public outcry ensued and in 1908, the motto was added to the design on the lower reverse of the coin. The "No Motto" type is very common and can be found with ease in high grades.

Another innovation of the "No Motto" type was a conversion of the date from the clumsy Roman numerals to the ubiquitous Arabic numerals.