1795 $10 BD-1, 13 Leaves MS(PCGS#45710)

August 2011 Chicago ANA - Rarities Night

Auktionator

Stack's Bowers

Losnummer

7704

Erhaltungsgrad

MS62

Preis

161.000

Losbeschreibung

Frosty Mint State 1795 Capped Bust, Small Eagle Ten Dollar Gold First Year of Issue 1795 Capped Bust Right Eagle. Taraszka-1, HBCC-3169, BD-1. Rarity-3+. 13 Leaves. MS-62 (NGC). Bright yellow-gold in color, with much luster in the protected areas for such an early gold coin. The strike is perfectly centered on a clean planchet. Notice the depth of the central devices, which required considerable force from the dies to bring up to this degree, while the surrounding dentils are a bit shallow, as a result of faint adjustment marks along the reverse rim only on the extreme edge. Examination of the surfaces finds a few wispy lines in the fields, all shallow and typical of these early gold coins. Note the eagle has virtually all his breast feathers-although weak, they are present, a testament to the strength of the strike. No signs of toning here, as all the surfaces are bright gold. The mintage of 5,583 pieces for the year has been reduced to perhaps 450-550 pieces today of the five known die combinations of 1795 eagles, of which a modest fraction can boast a mint state grade today. A significant number of these early eagles have damage or cleaning problems today, and thus are not certified in graded holders. NGC has awarded a mere 17 examples the MS-62 grade, with another 21 seen finer of this date. The Capped Bust, Small Eagle type was used for just parts of 3 short years, with the Heraldic Eagle style adopted in mid or late 1797. The "eagle", as these became known, were so-called because of the bird chosen to grace the reverse. Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey for our national bird, as so many other nations already had chosen the eagle for this purpose. Other founding fathers desired the eagle, so thus the "eagle" was born on our national coinage, and became the largest and most important coin struck for circulation for the first 55 years of our coinage. However, the considerable presence of Franklin nearly prevailed, and today numismatists might be forming a collection "Turkeys" instead of "Eagles". Notice that these 1795 eagles do not display their denomination. This was no oversight, as these denominations were stated by law in the 1792 Coinage Act. Section 20 states "That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars or units, dismes or tenths..." Naturally, the value of gold to silver was also set forth in this Act. The Act defined the ratio of pure silver to gold as 15 parts to one being of equal value. Therefore, the relative denominations were consistent fractions, tenths or related logical fractions of the "unit" or dollar measure of silver or gold. Merchants always weighed coins in transactions, and their value determined by experience and the trustworthiness of the money issuer. A gold "eagle" would be understood to contain the proper ratio of gold to silver, being worth 10 silver dollars or units, as divided by the 15 to 1 ratio. Clearly the new United States of America had to prove sound coinage on an international, as well as local front. The Coinage Act of 1792 also stated "That the said assayer, chief coiner and treasurer" each had to be bonded to the United States of America for $10,000 with the condition for the faithful and diligent performance of the duties of this office. A $10,000 bond was a staggering amount of money at the time. Finally a reduction in the bond requirement allowed the beginning of gold coinage in July 1795 when the first half eagles were delivered. Eagles began coinage in September of that year. The master hub for the obverse (Liberty's head) is believed to have been engraved by Robert Scot, who became the Chief Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint after Joseph Wright died from one of the annual yellow fever epidemics. This head punch was used to create new dies as they were needed. Scot is also believed to have created the delicate "small eagle" reverse hub punch as well. PCGS# 8551. Provenance: From the Rajj Collection. NGC Census: 17; 21 finer (MS-65 finest).