1857 Eagle SS Republic - 1857 $10 SS Republic, NGC AU58. This rare, near-Mint State 1857 Eagle comes with the provenance of the ill-fated S.S. Republic. The coin has original mint luster in protected areas of both sides. Just a touch of wear on the highest points keeps this eye-appealing piece from an Uncirculated grade. The surfaces are original and clean for the grade, with no individually distracting abrasion marks or other notable defects. The strike is strong with full details on Libertys hair, the centers of about half of the stars, and the area to the lower left of the shield.

During the California Gold Rush, the S.S. Republic, then called the Tennessee, was used to transport miners to the shore of Panama and Nicaragua to travel to the California gold fields. For several years the ship was used to carry immigrants to the Unites States from Mexico. When the Civil War began, the ship was docked in New Orleans. She was seized by the Confederates and used as a blockade runner. After the capture of New Orleans by the North, she became the flagship of Admiral Farragut for the end of the Mississippi Campaign. In 1864, she resumed transporting passengers and cargo from New York to New Orleans. The next year she sank in a hurricane off the coast of Savannah. In 2003, the Odyssey Republic Expedition, after twelve years of searching, discovered and began the recovery of the ships treasure. The cargo had been untouched for 138 years approximately 100 miles off the coast of Georgia. Lost Gold of the Republic, a film produced by National Graphic, documents the discovery and recovery. The coins recovered from the S.S. Republic are labeled as such by NGC and its affiliate NCS not only to note the historic significance of the coins, but also to indicate that these coins have been professionally conserved. The blue NGC tag was used exclusively for coins from the Republic.

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.

Since only 8 1857 eagles were found on the S.S. Republic, all coins of this date and pedigree are exceedingly rare. In its population report, NGC shows 4 in AU58 from the Republic with 3 better. PCGS has none identified from the Republic; however, it does list 3 non-salvaged eagles from 1857 in AU58 with 1 better.