1799 $10 Small Stars Obverse (1799 Eagle Small Stars Obverse) PCGS AU58. BD-2, R5+. This scarce variety of the Small Stars 1799 Eagle has muted mint luster remaining in protected areas. The coin has an above average strike with some obverse stars showing details in their centers, most of Libertys hair curls full, and almost full details on the shield, the eagles neck, the stars above, and the clouds. Only a trace of wear is seen, in keeping with the grade. The surfaces are clean and free of major distractions save for the face and neck that are speckled with shallow rust lumps as struck. The long vertical scuff mark on the obverse is on the holder not the coin. A couple of tiny copper spots are seen on the reverse shield and mentioned for the sake of accuracy. Overall the coin has the look of a piece that could have easily graded mint state.

The Early Eagle series consists of only ten dates from 1795 to 1807. The life-span of the series encompassed the presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. The 1795 coins have either 13 leaves below the eagle or 9 leaves below; the 1797 dated coins have a small or a large eagle reverse; the 1798 coins are overdates, with 9 stars left and 4 right and 7 stars left and 6 right; the 1799 coins have small and large obverse stars; and the 1803 coins have small and large reverse stars. The coins of 1796, 1800, 1801, and 1804 do not have major varieties that are listed in the Red Book.
The large stars punch was used after the small stars punch broke earlier in the year. The new punch had a fatter, puffier star. It was used until 1801 when it was replaced with a more finely pointed one. The Small Stars variety, the present coin, is the rarer of the two.

The 1799 eagle was designed by Robert Scot. The obverse design shows a profile of Liberty facing right. Below her is the date which is off center to the left. Between the date and the word LIBERTY on the left side of the coin are eight stars. Another five stars follow LIBERTY down to the bust. (There were other numbers and arrangements of the stars including ten and five, and twelve and four among the early eagles.) Unlike classical Greek goddess portraits, Liberty is modestly draped. She wears a large, soft cap. Her hair flows down and also shows on her forehead. The design was probably taken from a Roman engraving of a Greek goddess. Libertys cap was certainly not a Phrygian or liberty cap. The liberty cap, emblematic of freedom, was worn by freed slaves and freed gladiators in Roman times. It was a close fitting cap used to cover a shorn head, which was one of the way slaves were identified. Because of the way Libertys hair strands wrap around it, the oversized cap has been called a turban, and the design has been called the Turban Head because of it.

The Type 2 reverse, first issued in 1797, shows a heraldic eagle. However, Scot mixed up the positions of the arrows and olive branch. The arrows held in the wrong claw signify defiant militarism. Either Scot made an error copying the image of the Great Seal, or he deliberately changed the symbolism in keeping with very warlike stance. Considering that the United States at this time was engaged in a naval war with France (the undeclared Franco-American War of 1798 to 1800, which took place on the East coast of North America and the Caribbean and resulted in the end of French privateer attacks on U.S. shipping), the latter is probably more likely. The French would be especially sensitive to a message within the heraldry, and the young United States was brash in that they had just defeated the super power, England in gaining independence. In the field above the eagle are thirteen stars and above them, six (or seven) clouds. A banner from wing to wing has the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.

Robert Scot was born in 1744. It is uncertain if he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland or in England. He was trained as a watchmaker in England and learned engraving afterwards. He moved to the United States in 1777, where he worked as an engraver of plates, bills of exchange, and office scales. During the Revolution, he was an engraver of paper money. In 1780 he was made the State Engraver of Virginia. He moved to Philadelphia the next year. He was appointed Chief Engraver of the United States Mint on November 23, 1793 by David Rittenhouse, Mint Director. His salary in 1795 was $1,200 per year. The Mint Director received only $800 dollars per year more. Scots ability to make dies was limited, and he was advanced in years with failing eyesight. His work was somewhat less than that done in Europe at the time, and Scot was criticized for its poor quality. Despite these limitations, he was responsible for designs of most of Americas first coins. These include the Flowing Hair and the Draped Bust motifs used on early silver coins, and the gold quarter eagle, half eagle and eagle. Scot also designed the 1794-1797 half cent, the 1800-1808 draped bust half cent, and the Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal. Scot died on November 1, 1823 and was succeeded by William Kneass as Chief Engraver.

Always popular with collectors and investors and always in demand, an almost mint state early date gold eagle can become the centerpiece of a carefully assembled cabinet of rarities.

According to Dannreuther and Bass, the authority on early U.S. gold varieties, the BD-2 had an estimated mintage of 1,500 to 2,000 pieces. It is an R5+ variety which means that there are 35 to 45 known today.