The Dec. 16 sale contained just 60 coins, all from the collection of the Sam and Rie Bloomfield Foundation. They made a king-size splash, though--a splash that was worthy of three kings, in fact--by realizing a total of nearly $2.36 million.

Most impressive of all, one of those 60 coins--an extremely high relief 1907 Saint-Gaudens double eagle-- brought the remarkable sum of $825,000: a hammer price of $750,000 plus a 10-percent buyer's fee of $75,000 more.

That's the highest amount ever paid at auction for a single gold coin. The previous record of $725,000 had stood for more than 17 years, since it was set by a Brasher doubloon at the first of four Garrett Sale auctions in November 1979.

What's more, the winning bidder, well-known coin dealer Dwight Manley of Orange, California, considered the rare Saint "a tremendous bargain."

"I was prepared to pay well over a million dollars for this coin," Manley told COINage, "so I was ecstatic to get it for only $825,000.

"I consider the ultra-high-relief double eagle the world's most beautiful coin. And this is arguably the finest- known of all the high reliefs."

The coin, a Roman-finish proof, is one of only 20 "ultra-high-relief" double eagles known to exist, and one of only two with the edge lettering inverted. That is to say, the inscription on the edge--E PLURIBUS UNUM--is right-side- up when the obverse of the coin is on top.

Sotheby's catalog describes it as "a spectacular, virtually unblemished coin." The description goes on to say:

"The fields exhibiting the extensive die polish swirls as is normal. A simply superb coin, the surfaces velvety, accentuating the depth of strike, and sculptural quality of the motif."

The Saint-Gaudens double eagle is viewed by many coin collectors and connoisseurs as the single most beautiful coin ever minted by Uncle Sam. Its designer, Augustus Saint- Gaudens, was the nation's preeminent sculptor before and after the turn of the century.

And the handful of ultra-high-relief specimens--struck before the start of regular production--showcase the coin at its most majestic.

The late Walter Breen stated emphatically that "only these faithfully represent Saint-Gaudens' conception, cherished as the stunning climax of American coin design."

Critics have hailed Saint-Gaudens as an American Michelangelo, and he was world-renowned for his larger works of art at the time he was approached by President Theodore Roosevelt to create new designs for U.S. coinage.

Two coins resulted from that presidential "commission": the double eagle and a smaller gold companion, the Indian Head eagle (or $10 gold piece). Both have been lavishly praised, but the double eagle holds a place of special honor in the pantheon of U.S. coinage.

Its obverse features a full-length portrait of Miss Liberty, with a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left. She's depicted in full stride with rays of sunlight behind her and the U.S. Capitol Building to the left of her flowing gown. The coin's reverse portrays a powerful eagle in flight--perhaps the most exceptional likeness of this emblem ever to grace a U.S. coin or medal. Below the eagle, the sun is shown with its rays extending upward.

Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens meant the coin to be struck in high relief to bring out every exquisite detail. In retrospect, this was impractical because it would have required multiple striking of every single coin produced for circulation.

Fortunately for collectors, the Mint did accommodate the president and the artist by making that small run of magnificent specimen strikes prior to beginning regular coinage.

It struck a single piece with a plain edge and the rest with E PLURIBUS UNUM on the edge. All display the date in Roman numerals. As might be expected, all of these are much- desired rarities and invariably bring strong six-figure prices when offered for sale.

The edges of the ultra-high-relief Saints are roughly twice as thick as those on the standard pieces eventually produced for circulation. The fields, or background areas of the obverse and the reverse, are noticeably concave and blend into the edges directly without a border--giving these coins what some have described as a knife-like look.

The details on these "ultra-high" strikes are amazingly sharp. But then, each received nine blows from the coins' brand-new dies at a pressure of 172 tons.

The very first production strikes were made with high relief--although not as high as that of the specimen strikes. Some of these had a wire rim, others a flat one, and as with the specimen pieces, all displayed the date in Roman numerals. This was part of Saint-Gaudens' attempt to convey a classical look.

After producing just 11,250 pieces, however, Mint officials substituted new dies with modified, lower relief. Production requirements simply wouldn't permit the time, effort and cost involved in making the coins with high relief. Perhaps symbolically acknowledging this dilution of the coins' classical beauty, the Mint also replaced the Roman-numeral date with Arabic numbers.

Cornelius Vermeule, curator of classical art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, has pronounced the Saint-Gaudens double eagle to be "perhaps the most majestic coin ever to bear our national imprint." And that is a judgment shared by many--if not most--of those concerned with the aesthetics of U.S. coinage.

The specimen consigned to Sotheby's for its December sale had been purchased years ago from Abe Kosoff, the dean of U.S. coin dealers, by prominent collector Sam Bloomfield. Bloomfield, a prominent aeronautical engineer, was president and chief engineer of the Swallow Airplane Co. in Wichita, Kansas.

Combining his technical skills with a zest for the artistic and a penchant for putting together sets, Bloomfield assembled collections not only of rare coins but also of violins and bows, Old Masters paintings, watches, clocks, sports cars, model trains and arms and armor.

Long before quality became an overriding concern in the coin market, Bloomfield made a point of seeking out the finest pieces available--reasoning, in Sotheby's words, that "the beauty of a small object is greatly enhanced if the detail is as perfect as its creator intended."

Bloomfield turned to Kosoff for many of his coin acquisitions, and the relationship resulted in some truly exceptional transactions. It was Kosoff, for example, who furnished Bloomfield in 1974 with his only ancient coin: a Syracusan dekadrachm by the engraver Kimon of the first type.

Sotheby's sold this coin on behalf of the Bloomfield Foundation in 1990 for $407,000--the third-highest price ever realized by an ancient coin at public auction, according to the firm.

While clearly the star of the December '96 auction, the ultra-high-relief double eagle had a fine supporting cast. Two other coins brought six-figure prices: an 1855 Wass Molitor $50 gold piece, which brought $170,500, and an 1852 Augustus Humbert $50 slug described as being a "possible presentation" piece, which realized $159,500.

Manley declined to identify the ultimate purchaser of the ultra-high Saint.

"I'm working with a client who has wanted one for a long time, and is a real fan of artistic beauty in numismatics," Manley said.

He said there are no present plans to display the coin, and added that it won't be submitted for certification.

Sotheby's had estimated that the coin would bring between $800,000 and $1.2 million, so the actual price is just slightly more than the lower-end estimate.

The all-time record price for any U.S. coin sold at public auction is held by the Eliasberg specimen of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel. That changed hands last May for $1.485 million--a hammer price of $1.35 million plus a 10-percent buyer's fee--at the Bowers and Merena auction of Eliasberg coins in New York.

Several other nickel and copper coins also have exceeded $825,000 at public auction. An 1804 silver dollar brought $990,000 at Auction '89 and a different 1913 nickel changed hands for $962,500 at Stack's auction of the Reed Hawn Collection in 1993.