1799 $10 Draped Bust Eagle, Small Stars Obverse PCGS AU53

     We at AUCM are proud to offer this rare and beautiful specimen from the early days of the American republic. Not many of the 1799 $10 Draped Bust Eagle have survived from that time. Such a coin is found only in the finest collections. This would be perfect for an exclusive collection of gold type coins from America's storied past. If you wish to develop a type set of the finest gold coins, please contact AUCM for professional guidance and support.

      The $10 gold piece, or eagle, was the highest value coin authorized by the Mint Act of 1792. This denomination was endorsed by both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and its intended use was to be the major coin for international commercial dealings and other large transactions. However, the $5 gold eagle was the preference of those conducting international trade due to its approximate size when compared to the primary gold coins of other nations. The eagle rarely circulated within the United States because it was worth around a week's salary for the typical worker. Plus, due to the poor domestic silver to gold ratio, the eagle was often sold for its equivalent in foreign silver, and thus melted in order to net a profit of one ounce of silver. Therefore such coins disappeared except for those held in banks or by individuals of means.

      Esteemed numismatic art critic Cornelius Vermeule writes of this historic coin: "The industrious Robert Scot ... created the bust of Liberty that dominated the gold coinage .... His source could well have been an idealized, somewhat backward portrait of Martha Washington arrayed for an evening reception .... The Liberty cap is a great tumultuous affair of soft felt that somehow manages to tower amid a large, curled forelock and long, wavy tresses .... The face is flat, blunt, and thoroughly bourgeois. The draped bust is a truncated curiosity. Greco-Roman classicism has been misunderstood here .... The entire presentation makes little sense as an immediate visual experience. Scot surely did not originate this form of classicism in the federalist period; no doubt he adapted the design from some cast after the antique or some contemporary marble by a sculptor of modest talents." Vermeule continues his analysis of this coin, pointing to criticism of Scot's work: "Criticism comes easy, however, and it must not be overlooked that Robert Scot's first gold coinage has a positive character of its own, a healthy individuality and almost rustic charm that conveys the message of a young nation seeking its identity as well as any monumental manifestation of the early arts in America."