1848-O Eagle (1848-O $10) NGC AU55. Lustrous devices are seen on this rare 1848-O New Orleans Eagle. There are a few small contact marks on Liberty’s face and both fields. Light, even wear is seen on the high points of the obverse and reverse, in keeping with the grade of AU55. The reverse is fairly well struck, but the obverse shows the typical central weakness for this date. Christian Gobrecht’s Coronet Design, No Motto eagle was minted from 1838 to 1866.

The Coronet design replaced Robert Scott’s Turban Head with a completely new design. Wearing a coronet instead of a cap, Liberty faces left. Her hair is tie back in a bun with two large curls coming down her neck and side. Gobrecht corrected the Scott’s mistaken heraldry by reversing the positions of the arrows and olive branch in the eagle’s claws. Gobrecht added the denomination on the coin. Previous eagles’ values, like European coins, were determined by weight and fineness. However, the eagle was inconvenient for international trade because it was too large for small transactions and too small for large sums because of difficulty of transportation and storage.

The original mintage of 1848-O eagles was 35,850. However, the coin is scarce because in total, only 170 in all grades have been certified by NGC.