1854-S Eagle (1854-S $10) NGC AU55. This eagle is a lovely, lightly circulated example of the design type. The devices are full and sharply struck, especially those on the reverse. Every feather, claw, and line in the shield is distinct. The high points of Libertys hair and the eagles head and tops of the wings show sparkling luster. There are a few contact marks on Libertys cheek and neck as well as in the field in front of her neck. The reverse has fewer marks, under the left wing and above the right one. There is slight wear on the highest points of the obverse, which probably keeps this coin out of the uncirculated category.

In July of 1838, the Secretary of the Treasury instructed Mint Director Robert Patterson to resume coinage of the eagle. It had been discontinued by order of President Thomas Jefferson in 1804 to prevent bullion melting. When a new law changed the weight and fineness, Christian Gobrecht was told to prepare new dies. He used a head of Venus from a Benjamin West painting, slightly altering the hair style. A revised version of John Reichs eagle was used for the reverse. Mintages were limited after 1850 because the half eagle was preferable for ordinary transactions, and the double eagle was preferred for the large interbank and international payments. While the design type remained in use for sixty-nine years, the motto In God We Trust was added in 1866. Thus there are two types of Coronet Eagles, type I with no motto and type II with motto.