J-1248 1872 Eagle Pattern - J-1248 1872 $10 Pattern NGC PF64 BN. R-8! To paraphrase Hewitt Judd, a copper pattern is exceedingly difficult to obtain in a combination of high grade and excellent eye appeal. The J-1248 copper eagle has an R8 rarity rating. Only 3 are known. The PCGS specimen is a PF62. NGCs population report shows a proof 67 Brown Cameo and the present piece, which is unique at proof 64 Brown.

This lustrous, eye appealing, copper 1872 Proof Pattern Eagle is the second finest known at NGC and the finest known at PCGS. As expected for a proof coin, the piece is boldly struck with full details on the centers of the stars, Libertys hair, the eagles neck, and the area to the lower left of the shield. The light chocolate-brown surfaces have highlights of blue, pink, and orange. The motifs are outlined in blue, especially so on the reverse. The surfaces are original and clean with no hairlines visible without magnification. The old type NGC holder has some vertical striations showing, but these are on the holder not the coin.

The 1872 copper proof eagle was also struck in aluminum. It shows Liberty facing left in profile wearing a LIBERTY inscribed coronet with her hair tied in the back in beads. Two long curls hang down her neck, one in the back and the other on the side. She is surrounded with thirteen six-pointed stars. The date is below the truncation, which shows no drapery. The motif is taken from a Benjamin West painting of Venus. It was also used with modifications for the Large Cents of 1839. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with outstretched wing looking to the left. On its chest is the Union shield. In its talons it holds the olive branch and arrows. The error in the previous issue, Scots eagle held the arrows and the olive branches in the wrong talons, is corrected. Except for being interrupted by the tips of the eagles wings UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the reverse, separated from the denomination TEN D. by dots. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin, and the edge is reeded. The Type 2 Liberty Head eagle was created when the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to a banner designed by James B. Longacre 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.

Both before and during the Civil War almost a dozen Protestant denominations pressured Congress to add references to God to the Constitution and other government documents. Reverend Mark Richards Watkinson was the first to write to Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase to request that Gods name be added to our coinage. His suggestion for a motto was God, Liberty, Law. Chase ordered Mint Director James Pollock to prepare a suitable motto. Pollocks suggestions included Our Trust Is In God, Our God And Our Country, and God Our Trust. Then Chase decided on In God We Trust to be added to most of the nations coinage. This motto was a subtle reminder that the North considered itself on the side of God with regard to the issue of slavery. A new law was required to allow the motto to be added since previous acts of Congress specified the mottos and devices that were permitted on coins. The new motto was placed on all coins that were deemed large enough to accommodate it.

In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to William Kneass. After Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle.