1853 Eagle (1853 $10) NGC MS60. This creamy 1853 eagle shows luster within the devices of both sides. A few marks on Liberty’s face and obverse field and a few in the reverse field keep the coin from a higher mint state grade. The strike on the reverse is full and sharp, somewhat less so on the obverse with slight weakness seen in the hair above Liberty’s ear. When a new law changed the weight and fineness of the eagle, Christian Gobrecht was told to prepare new dies. He used a head of Venus from a Benjamin West painting, slightly altering the hair style.

A revised version of John Reich’s eagle was used for the reverse. While the design type remained in use for sixty-nine years, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added in 1866. Thus there are two types of Coronet Eagles, type I with no motto and type II with motto. It wasn’t until 1907 with the Saint-Gaudens’ redesign that the denomination was changed to TEN DOLLARS and E PLURIBUS UNUM was added.