The greatest artistic overhaul in U.S. coinage history got under way in 1907 when two exquisite gold coins designed by master medalist Augustus Saint-Gaudens made their first appearance. Saint-Gaudens died before the coins were issued, but his double eagle and eagle ($20 and $10 gold pieces) launched a brilliant renaissance that resulted in a total of 10 extraordinary new coins by 1921. The Liberty Head double eagle was last minted in 1907, but it left an enduring legacy.

In other news of 1907:

• President Theodore Roosevelt sent all four squadrons of the U.S. Navy around the globe in a show of American naval power. This Great White Fleet returned in February 1909 after being saluted throughout the world.
• A record 1.25 million immigrants arrived in the United States – most of them through Ellis Island in New York Harbor.
• In San Francisco, the school board barred all Japanese children – immigrants and citizens alike – from attending class with white children. The policy was reversed when Roosevelt, enraged by the move, intervened.
• Oklahoma was admitted as the 46th state.
• In Rome, educator Maria Montessori opened her first school.
• The British luxury liner Lusitania was launched as both the largest and fastest ship in the world. It made its first crossing of the Atlantic in less than a week.
• New York became the first U.S. city to offer automobile taxicabs.
• The Ziegfeld Follies opened in New York. Modeled on France’s racy dance halls, Florenz Ziegfeld’s revue featured 50 dancers known as the Anna Held Girls, in honor of the showman’s wife.
• A 1787 Brasher doubloon sold for $6,200, the most ever paid for a U.S. coin until then.
• The American Numismatic and Archaeological Society changed its name to the American Numismatic Society.

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