$10 Liberty Head Gold Eagles Coin History:
Almost Uncirculated $10 Liberty Head Gold Eagles contain .4838 Troy Ounces of Pure Gold! Dates will ranges from 1838-1907. In 1838, after an absence of thirty-four years, a new Eagle $10 gold piece was finally introduced. So many of the previous generation of Gold Eagles had been hoarded or melted down as a result of the discrepancy between their face value and compositional worth that President Jefferson was moved to completely end their production in 1804. The Congress, though, was determined to maintain a bi-metallic standard, and, after much debate on fineness and composition, did so in 1838 by passing the two bills that authorized the production of a new Gold Eagle. Acting Engraver Christian Gobrecht was charged with designing the coin that would come to be known as the Liberty Head Eagle.
The coin’s obverse, inspired by Benjamin West’s famous painting Omnia Vincit Amor (“Love Conquers All”), depicts a left-facing bust of Liberty, hair knotted in back with hanging curls, wearing a coronet inscribed “Liberty”. The reverse features a very naturalistic American eagle holding arrows and an olive branch in its talons with a shield across its breast. $10 Liberty Head Gold Eagles were minted in two slight variations from 1838 through 1907 in Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco (“S” mintmark), New Orleans (“O”), Carson City, Nevada (“CC”), and Denver (“D”), are composed of .90% gold yielding .48375 troy ounces of pure gold per coin, and measure 27mm in diameter.
$10 Liberty Gold Eagle Coin Specifications:
- Minted in United States
- Minted from 1838-1907
- Face Value $10
- Purity 0.900 fine pure gold
- Gold content .4838 troy oz.
- Thickness 2.03
- Diameter 27 mm
- Also known as the Coronet
- Obverse: Features Lady Liberty wearing her hair up in a bun with a few loose curls. On her head is a coronet inscribed with “Liberty.” The year is below the face, and the 13 starts on top represent the 13 original colonies.
- Reverse: Shows a proud bald eagle with wings extended on top of a bundle of arrows with an olive branch. The words “United States of America are placed around the eagle along with denomination $Ten D. directly below.
Gold coins, like the $10 Liberty Head Gold Eagle, minted in the U.S. prior to 1933 possess not only gold’s tangible value, they also make a brilliant addition to any collection. The appeal of pre-33 gold coins is centered on gold’s reputation for being a sturdy investment, and enhanced by the value of rare and historically significant coinage.
