Draped Bust $10 Eagle
Even though Americans at the time (18th century) were only familiar with the Spanish coins, when discussions of a new monetary system for the United States began after the Revolutionary War, its architects were determined to strike a balance between the old and the new in formulating their plans. Although Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton championed decimal coinage as a clean break with Europe’s convoluted monetary systems, they still had course to resort to the old order: The basic unit around which the new system revolved was the silver dollar, copying the Spanish coin’s weight and fineness, along with its commonly accepted name. At the top of the new coinage scheme was the country’s premier gold coin, the ten-dollar piece, intended by Congress’ Mint Act of 1792 as America’s face to the world, and symbolically designated the “eagle,” after the national bird.
Eagles appeared for the first time in the autumn of 1795, less than two months after the first appearance of the half eagles. At both flanks were ten stars on the left and five stars on the right. Inspired by the Roman earrings carved in the 1st century BC, the reverse depicts an eagle with spread wings perched on the palm branch with a crown on its beak. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is clearly seen round the coin
The Philadelphia Mint only struck 13,344 eagles with this capped bust / small eagle from 1795 to 1797 Although the short series has only three dates, it includes seven species, five of which in 1795, including the famous and rare origin of nine palm trees In 1796, sixteen stars are on Liberty Edge, eight on each side, marking the advent of Tennessee in the Union. The 1797 edition also has sixteen stars, twelve on the left and four on the right. The two types 1796 and 1797 share an inverted common: a branch of an eagle palm has eleven leaves, instead of thirteen or nine leaves of 1795 coins.
Because early U.S. gold saw little circulation, most surviving Capped Bust/Small Eagle tens are found in relatively high grades, generally from Very Fine to Almost Uncirculated. Mint state specimens are occasionally available, usually the 1795 issues, which appear much more frequently than the later dates of this design. The 1795 coins are often encountered with prooflike surfaces, including some amazingly well-preserved “gems”—apparently many were saved as first-year-of-issue souvenirs. Perhaps some of these exceptional specimens are from the group of 100 eagles presented by Mint Director Henry DeSaussere to President George Washington in October of 1795.
The 1796 issue is considerably scarcer than the first year coins, particularly in mint state, but like its predecessor, several well struck prooflike specimens have appeared on the market over the years. Eclipsing both dates is the very rare 1797 issue, quite elusive in all grades, with only a few mint state survivors known, including at least one prooflike example which appeared in Stack’s sale of the famed Amon Carter collection in 1984. Although few present day collectors assemble sets of the seven varieties, it is by no means an impossible quest except in high grade, as the rare 1797 and 1795 nine-leaf reverse issues become prohibitively expensive. Most collectors pursue only a single example of this design type. Curiously, a collection of just the three dates could be construed as a minor “type set” within the series, as they each have a different arrangement of stars on the obverse.
In assessing the quality and authenticity of this design, an obverse wear should show on Liberty’s hair, cheek, shoulder and cap. On the reverse, check the eagle’s wings, breast and left leg. Even though this may not be an automated check for authenticity because what looks like wear on one coin may be only a loss of detail, while another coin with sharper details may in fact have more wear, and thus be in a lower grade.
The small eagle reverse in mid-1797 was replaced with the new Heraldic Eagle design, modeled after the bird on the Great Seal of the United States. The Capped Bust motif remained on the obverse until 1804. The eagle would not return until 1838, when it featured an entirely new design, the Coronet Head Liberty.