1858-O Eagle - 1858-O $10 NGC AU58 CAC. Subdued mint luster glows from within the design details of this appealing, near-Mint State 1858-O Eagle. The strike is above average with central details present on about half of the obverse stars, and full details on the hair above Libertys ear and the eagles neck. The surfaces are yellow gold and green-gold, which attests to the coins originality. In addition the surfaces are clean for the grade with no notable abrasion marks worthy of individual description. The grade is confirmed by the presence of the CAC sicker, which indicates that the coin is a premium quality piece and fully merits the assigned grade.

The New Orleans Mint was authorized in 1835 by President Andrew Jackson, hero of the battle of New Orleans. The bill that Jackson signed also authorized the mints at Charlotte and Dahlonega. William Strickland, a Philadelphia architect designed all three branch mint buildings. The New Orleans Mint building was made in the solid, bulky Greek Revival style of architecture. It was the largest of the three branch mints and located at major port of entry. Unfortunately Strickland did not account for the soft ground around the site. Because of it, the building had to undergo numerous repairs throughout its history.

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, NGC shows 46 1858-O eagles in AU58 condition with 5 better. PCGS shows 7 in AU58 with 7 better, and these numbers do not include crossovers or resubmissions. At CAC, as of October 2012, 4 eagles of this date in AU58 have been confirmed with 2 better.