1840 Eagle PCGS AU53 - 1840 $10 PCGS AU53. Muted original mint luster and a strong strike characterize this 1840 Eagle which comes in an OGH (old green holder). Full details are seen in the centers of most of the stars, in Libertys hair, in the eagles neck feathers, and in the area to the lower left of the shield. Very light wear on the high points and scattered surfaces abrasions keep this coin from a Mint State grade. However, none of the marks is so serious as to merit individual description.

Between 1805, when President Thomas Jefferson ordered mintage of gold eagles stopped, and 1837 no gold eagles were made. Coinage was of this denomination was resumed with Christian Gobrechts Liberty Head eagle. The size, weight, and fineness were reduced so that the coins were not intrinsically worth more than their denominated value.

The Liberty Head eagle shows Liberty facing left in profile wearing a LIBERTY inscribed coronet with her hair tied in the back in beads. Two long curls hang down her neck, one in the back and the other on the side. She is surrounded with thirteen six-pointed stars. The date is below the truncation, which shows no drapery. The motif is taken from a Benjamin West painting of Venus. It was also used with modifications for the Large Cents of 1839. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with outstretched wing looking to the left. On its chest is the Union shield. In its talons it holds the olive branch and arrows. The error in the previous issue, Scots eagle held the arrows and the olive branches in the wrong talons, is corrected. Except for being interrupted by the tips of the eagles wings UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the reverse, separated from the denomination TEN D. by dots. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin, and the edge is reeded.

In its population report, PCGS shows 6 1840 eagles certified in AU53 condition.