1862 Eagle (1862 $10) NGC AU55. Scarce & lustrous Civil War Eagle. The pictured coin is an 1862 $10 gold eagle graded AU-55 by NGC. With a mintage of only 10,960 coins, the 1862 eagle is one of the least produced dates of the series. This coins deep gold surfaces help to accentuate the nicely struck devices. A very scare and lustrous example of a Civil War era coin!

As the first Secretary of Treasury of the United States , Alexander Hamilton had envisioned a monetary standard where gold would be the only legal tender, and coins of other metals would be simply a convenience. He believed that golds price stability was the most consistent of all of the precious metals and be less sensitive to changes in supply. Many considered his idea to be utopian and idealistic and in 1790, Congress settled on a bimetallic standard and Mint Director Robert M. Patterson was instructed to produce eagles, and Acting Engraver Christian Gobrecht, replacing the ailing William Kneass, prepared dies for a new design.

Gobrechts design for the Liberty Head $10 gold piece was inspired by the portrait of Venus in Benjamin West's Painting Omnia Vincit Amor (Love Conquers All). The obverse features a bust of Liberty facing left, wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY . Her hair is knotted in the back with hanging curls. Thirteen stars encircle the bust, with the date positioned below. The reverse depicts an eagle holding an olive branch and arrows, surrounded by the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and TEN D. Mintmarks are below the eagle.