1796 $10 MS(PCGS#8554)

Spring 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

3157

等级

AU58

价格

683,535

详细说明

A highly desirable example of this scarce early type. Warm honey-olive color yields to brighter pinkish-rose when the coin is viewed with the aid of direct lighting. The surfaces are bright and flashy, boasting considerable reflectivity in both the obverse and reverse field areas. Pleasingly smooth with only a few faint Mint-made adjustment marks in the center of the obverse (most of which are well concealed within Liberty's hair), and only minor handling marks as one would expect for an early eagle that saw actual, however light commercial use. The strike detail is impressively sharp throughout with most features fully rendered and crisp. BD Die State c/b.<p>The Small Eagle reverse was used on the $10 gold piece for only three years and was not produced in any large quantity. The 1796 eagle is no exception; according to Mint records 4,146 pieces were delivered that calendar year, though this almost certainly includes a number of 1795-dated eagles. Precisely how many were actually dated 1796 remains to be discovered, John W. Dannreuther in his 2006 study, <em>Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties: A Study of Die States, 1795-1834</em>, has estimated the mintage of the 1796-dated issue at 3,500 to 4,146 pieces, all struck from a single die pair. One distinguishing feature is the use of 16 stars on the obverse signifying the admission of Tennessee into the Union on June 1, 1796, indicating that these few coins were all struck after that date. The 1796 eagle is also the first of two issues with only 11 leaves on the reverse branch in the eagle's claw; the earlier 1795-dated varieties all display either nine or 13 leaves on the branch. Just 125 to 175 examples are believed extant in all grades, few of which are at or near the Mint State level. This sharp and thoroughly appealing Choice About Uncirculated survivor of a classic early gold rarity is a delight to behold.