1841 Eagle - 1841 $10 NGC AU58. This lustrous, scarce, near-Uncirculated 1841 Eagle comes with the provenance of the famous Harry Bass Collection. The coin shows a mixture of light yellow gold and darker gold colors, which attest to its originality. The surfaces are clean for the grade with no notable abrasion marks or other distractions. The coin is extremely well struck with full details on the centers of the stars, Libertys hair, the eagles neck, and the area to the lower left of the shield. The dentils are full and sharp on both sides. 

Christian Gobrecht designed the Liberty Head eagle. It was minted from 1838 to 1907. It 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.

Gobrecht became the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore. Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to William Kneass. After Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif, which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle. 

Harry Bass was one of the most successful coin collectors of his time. He was a man of great wealth who was born into a Texas oil family. In addition to further developing his fathers oil company, he was instrumental in organizing the Republican Party in Texas, had an interest in computers, and helped build the Vail Ski resort in Colorado. Bass developed an interest in numismatics in 1965, which he first looked at as an investment vehicle. From then until his death in 1998, he focused his interest on 19th century gold coins. In the 60s, when he started, it was possible to buy a common date double eagle for less than $100. His first purchase included an 1803 Capped Bust eagle, a 14 Star variety. From then on he was fascinated with die varieties. Eventually he became a member of the American Numismatic Society and later its president and its counselor. By the time of his death, Bass had assembled the largest collection of United States gold coins. He missed a few dates and mintmarks, but his collection was noted for its exceptional quality.

In its population report, NGC shows 23 1841 eagles certified at the AU58 level.