1893-O $10 (1893-O Eagle) Eliasberg, NGC MS62. This mint state, New Orleans Mint 1893-O Eagle comes from the famous Eliasberg collection. It is sharply struck as indicated by the centers of the stars, Libertys hair, the eagles neck, and the lower left of the shield and lower part of the eagle. Significant mint luster gleams from both sides of the coin. Not a trace of wear is seen, as expected for a mint state coin. The vertical marks on the right side of the obverse are on the holder not the coin.

The 1893-O eagle is an example of the fourth type of eagle coin. It is the Motto Added type which began in 1866 as a result of pressure such as that brought about by the Reverend Mark Richards Watkinson of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, who felt that God should be recognized on our nations coinage.

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.

In its population report, NGC shows 78 coins of this date and mint certified in MS62 with 10 better. However, these numbers do not truly indicate the rarity of this coin because of its provenance. Louis Eliasberg was a financier from Baltimore who collected coins from 1925 until his death in 1976. He assembled a complete collection of every United States regular issue coin. No one had accomplished such a collection before or since Eliasberg. His extensive collection had to be sold in three separate auctions, which are considered among the greatest in numismatic history. Owning a coin that was once in his possession and part of his great collection is actually holding a piece of American and numismatic history in your hand.