Scott’s
Proof Eagles 1795-1804: The early eagle coins
have no denomination because gold was valued by its weight
and fineness as was the European coinage of the time. As seen
on contemporary Large Cents, dentils are at the edge of both
the obverse and reverse of these coins.
The obverse design shows Liberty
facing right. Below her is the date which is off center to
the left. Between the date and the word LIBERTY on the left
side of the coin are eight stars. Another eight stars follow
LIBERTY down to the bust. (There were other arrangements of
the stars including ten and five, and twelve and four.) Liberty
wears a large, soft cap. Her hair flows down and also shows
on her forehead. The design was probably taken from a Roman
engraving of a Greek goddess. Liberty’s cap was certainly
not a Phrygian or liberty cap. The liberty cap, emblematic
of freedom, was worn by freed slaves and freed gladiators
in Roman times. It was a close fitting cap used to cover a
shorn head, which was one of the way slaves were identified.
The oversized cap worn by Liberty has been called a turban,
and the design has been called the Turban Head because of
it.
The Type 1 reverse shows a
rather scrawny eagle standing on a branch holding a wreath
in its mouth as it looks right. For some, the eagle looks
like a chicken with oversized wings. In an arc around the
eagle are the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
The Type 2 reverse, issued
in 1797, shows a heraldic eagle. However, Scott mixed up the
positions of the arrows and olive branch. The arrows held
in the wrong claw signify defiant militarism. Either Scott
made an error copying the image of the Great Seal, or he deliberately
changed the symbolism in keeping with a potential political
mistake. In the field above the eagle are thirteen stars and
above them, six (or seven) clouds. A banner from wing to wing
has the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Proof coins of this design
are so rare that their mintage numbers are not listed in the
Guide Book of United States Coins. However, a few have been
certified by the grading services. In its population report
NGC shows 2, (1800 and 1804); and PCGS also shows 2 (both
1804).
Gobrecht’s
Proof Eagle 1838-1907: In 1804 President Thomas
Jefferson stopped the mintage of eagles. Because its melt
value exceeded its monetary value, there was excessive melting
of theses coins. Over thirty years later, the standard weight
and fineness for gold coins was changed. Eagles went from
270 grains to 258 and fineness from 91.67% to 90% gold. In
1838 Mint Director Patterson told Engraver Gobrecht to prepare
new dies for the eagle.
Gobrecht, using a head of
Venus with a slightly altered hair style that he took from
a Benjamin West painting, replaced Robert Scott’s Turban
Head with a completely new design. The coin shows Liberty
facing to the left, to the West or perhaps the frontier, wearing
a coronet inscribed with the word LIBERTY instead of a cap
as on the previous design. Her hair is tied with beads and
two long curls fall down, one on the back of her neck and
the other below her ear. The design is similar to his Braided
Hair Coronet motif used on Large Cents of 1839 to 1857. For
the reverse, Gobrecht used a revised version of John Reich’s
eagle reverse. The new reverse shows the corrected heraldry,
arrows in the left claw and olive branch in the right. The
previous design had them mixed up causing confusing war-like
symbolism. Gobrecht also removed the stars and clouds above
the eagle and added the denomination TEN D. below. Previous
eagles lacked this information because they were thought of
as bullion and were valued by their weight and precious metal
content as was the case with the European coins that circulated
and were accepted in the United States.
The Type 2 eagle was created
when the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to a banner above
the eagle in 1866. The change was made in response to pressure
organized by the Reverend M.R. Watkinson. The motto remained
until 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt told Augustus
Saint-Gaudens to omit it on the newly designed eagle.
All of Gobrect’s proof
eagles are rare. Type 1 had a business strike mintage of over
five million yet it is estimated that only 400 proofs were
struck. Type 2 had an expected much larger mintage of over
thirty seven million; however, only 2,327 proof were made,
with no single year having more than 120 struck. Proof eagles
before 1860 are exceedingly rare. Those struck between 1861
and 1880’s are very rare. Coins of the 1880’s
to 1907 are rare because there was no real demand for them
when they were issued. It wasn’t until the decades of
the 30’s and 40’s that collectors became interested
in obtaining proof eagles. The NGC population reports for
all proof eagles of 1838-1907 show 803 coins certified. PCGS
has certified 61.
The 80 minted in 1859 are
the largest mintage for the Type 1 eagles. The date on these
pieces is thin and close to the rim. NGC shows a population
of 3 for this date, and PCGS shows 1.
In the “With Motto” issue, in 1896, 78 proofs
were minted. NGC shows a population of 23 and PCGS also shows
23. The highest proof mintage was in 1900 with 120 pieces
made. NGC shows a population of 52 and PCGS shows 36.
Indian Head Proof
Eagles: Responding to President Theodore
Roosevelt’s request, sculptor, designer Augustus Saint-Gaudens
created a new gold eagle. Saint-Gaudens, Roosevelt’s
personal friend for years, had designed Roosevelt’s
inaugural medal, and the new president was very happy with
his work. For the new eagle, Saint-Gaudens chose the “Indian
Princess” design. It had a Caucasian Miss Liberty
wearing an Indian feathered war bonnet. While to the modern
eye this combination is somewhat absurd, in 1907 it was
considered innovative. Roosevelt felt that the contemporary
United States coinage was “atrociously hideous,”
and Saint-Gaudens agreed. An idealized Native American war
bonnet was used to give the coin a distinctly nationalistic
character.
Because of its use, the coin wound up being
known as the “Indian Head” Eagle. Saint-Gaudens
used as his model the figure of Nike, which was part of
his sculpture of the Sherman Monument at the entrance to
New York’s Central Park. Thirteen stars are seen in
an arc above the head, and the date is below the truncation
of the neck. The reverse of the coin shows a magnificent
standing eagle, reminiscent of Egyptian designs. It is standing
on a log with arrows and an olive branch in its talons.
In an arc above it are the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Below the eagle is the written denomination, TEN DOLLARS
and above its wings is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Instead
of a reeded edge, there are forty-six raised stars on the
edge, which continued until 1911. In 1912 two stars were
added for Arizona and New Mexico. The stars were impressed
with a segmented three-part collar. Type 1 coins are the
wire edge with periods. They have triangular dots in front
of UNITED and TEN and after AMERICA and DOLLARS. They also
have a “wire edge” or “fin,” which
is a narrow rim outside the border caused by metal being
forced between the dies and collar.
There were 50 matte or satin finish Type
1 proofs, but their whereabouts are unknown. Type 2 coins
keep the triangular dots, but they have a raised rim to
protect the design. It is similar to that on proof Lincoln
cents of the time and is called a “rolled edge.”
Since the edge was not rolled, this name is actually a misnomer.
All were melted except for 42 regular issues. A proof coin
was known, but it is alleged to have been stolen in 1983.
The Type 3 coins put into circulation were modified by Charles
Barber. Barber was an early advocate for lower relief on
the grounds that the high relief coins would not be practical
for commerce. He lowered the relief, curved the truncation
more, left off the dots, and shaped the olive branch differently.
Two proof coins were made. One has a satin finish and the
other the matte finish. The NGC population report shows
3 “No Mottos,” for 1907, one of which has a
“rolled edge.” (No doubt one or more was resubmitted
with the hope of a higher grade.) The PCGS report has none.
For 1908, no “No Motto” proof coins have been
reported by either grading service.
In 1908, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added
to the coin’s reverse in front of the eagle. Roosevelt
considered it blasphemous to have God’s name on a
coin that could be used for immoral purposes such as drinking,
gambling, and worse or would even fall on the floor and
be stepped on. However, Congress, who had forgotten the
opposition to the motto in the 1860’s, insisted that
it be added. Charles Barber modified the coin by adding
the motto and making other insignificant changes.
All of the proof coins of this design are rare. In all 768
regular mintage proof coins were struck for all the dates
of this design. Many were unsold and melted in 1917. Others
were spent during the Great Depression. The proofs’
finishes differ from year to year. Evidently this was a
time of experimentation with proof finishes. In prior years
proof finishes were brilliant, made from highly polished
dies and struck more than once.
In 1908, 116 proof eagles were minted. Three
types of finishes were used. The light matte finish is pale
orange-yellow. The dark matte finish is between khaki and
olive, and the “Roman Gold” finish is light
yellow and satiny. In its population report NGC shows 66
proof coins certified. PCGS shows 37.
Some of the 1909 proofs were the dark matte finish, and
some were the satin or “Roman Gold” finish.
There were 74 coins struck. The NGC population report shows
49, and the PCGS report shows 32. (The higher combined total
of the two grading services’ population reports shows
that there have been a number of resubmissions and crossovers,
which is true for all of the proof coins in this series.)
In 1910 204 proof coins were made. Most have the satin finish.
The NGC population report shows 27, and the PCGS report
shows 20.
The proofs of 1911 used two finishes, the light matte, which
is similar to 1908 and a darker sandblast like the one used
in 1912. There were 95 proofs struck. The NGC population
report shows 27, and the PCGS report shows 20.
In 1912 the mint struck 83 proof eagles. They were different
from all the previously struck matte finish coins in that
they were a fine, sandblast finish. The NGC population report
shows 28, and the PCGS report shows 15.
In 1913, 71 proofs were made. They were struck with the
same fine matte sandblast finish as in 1912. The NGC population
report shows 26, and the PCGS report shows 14.
Fifty proof coins were struck in 1914. They
were a coarse, sandblast finish, which was darker than those
of the previous two years. The NGC population report shows
30, and the PCGS report shows 16.
The last year of “Indian Head” proof eagles
was 1915. In this year, 75 proofs were struck. The finish
on them is similar to the 1914 issue, a dark, coarse sandblast.
The NGC population report shows 22, and the PCGS report
shows 14.
