1856 Eagle - 1856 $10 NGC AU58 CAC. This 1856 eagle shows an appealing light, reddish-gold color, which indicates a high percentage of copper. Satiny luster is visible in protected areas of both sides of the coin. The strike is above average with full details on Libertys hair, the eagles neck, and the area to the lower left of the shield. The grade of AU58 is confirmed by CAC which indicates that the coin is a premium quality piece and fully deserves the assigned grade. The surfaces are original, clean, and, for the grade, free of individually significant abrasion or other marks.

Christian Gobrecht designed the Liberty Head eagle. 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 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.

Generally speaking Coronet eagle Liberty Head, No Motto coins had low mintages. While a few years had large mintages of more than 200,000, most were significantly less. Some dates are difficult to obtain because their mintages were limited or they were not saved. From 1840 to 1841 small numerals were used. These were the same as for the cents of that year. In 1842 both large and small numerals were used. The same is true for the 1850 and 1854-O eagles. In 1844 Gobrecht died and Longacre became the Engraver.

His job consisted mainly of punching the dates and mintmarks into the working dies. He made several blunders including 1846-O, 6 over 5; 1849 over 1848; 1853, 3 over 2; and 1865-S, 865/inverted 186. In this last one, the three numbers were entered upside down and then corrected. The Hard Times, which saw high unemployment and starvation, was one of the reasons for the limited mintages through the mid 1840s. Later double eagles, which were first used in 1850, were preferred over eagles for large commercial and international transactions.

As of May 2012, CAC has confirmed 4 1856 eagles in AU58 condition with 1 better.