1854-S $10 (1854-S Eagle) NGC AU55. This lightly circulated, branch mint 1854-S Eagle has an above average strike, particularly so on the reverse with full details on the eagle’s neck, the area to the lower left of the shield, and the lower part of the eagle. The coin’s grade is confirmed by the separation of the lines in Liberty’s hair and the lower part of the coronet. For the grade, the surfaces are clean, original, and free of distractions worthy of individual mention. Traces of mint luster are seen in protected areas.

Christian Gobrecht designed the eagle using a head of Venus with a slightly altered hair style that he took from a Benjamin West painting. It replaced Robert Scot’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 mintmark is seen between the denomination and the juncture of the arrows and olive branch.

The 1854-S eagle was the first eagle struck at the San Francisco Mint, which opened in 1854 as a result of the California Gold Rush. In the West there was an abundance of gold bullion, nuggets and dust; however, there was also an acute shortage of circulating coinage. Congress authorized this mint to relive the shortage and coin silver and gold and because transportation of bullion to Philadelphia was time consuming and hazardous. Because of its proximity to the Gold Rush area, San Francisco was chosen as the site of the new mint.