Proof 1898 Eagle - 1898 $10 (1898 Eagle) NGC PF65 UCAM. This rare, gem proof, type 2 1898 Eagle shows ultra cameo contrast, which consists of satiny devices and deep mirrored fields. The ultra designation indicates that unlike modern proofs that are all high contrast pieces, this coin was among the earlier strikes in the tiny production run. The surfaces are original and clean, for the grade with no signs of mishandling or abuse.

In 1804 President Thomas Jefferson stopped the mintage of eagles. Because its melt value exceeded its monetary value, there was excessive melting of theses coins. Over thirty years later, the standard weight and fineness for gold coins was changed. Eagles went from 270 grains to 258 and fineness from 91.67% to 90% gold. In 1838 Mint Director Patterson told Engraver Gobrecht to prepare new dies for the eagle. The Type 2 Liberty Head Eagle, Motto Added was created when the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to a banner designed by James B. Longacre above the eagle in 1866. The change was made in response to pressure organized by the Reverend M.R. Watkinson of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania. The motto remained until 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt told Augustus Saint-Gaudens to omit it on the newly designed eagle.

Mintages remained small from 1866 to 1878. Some of the most famous rarities of the series were made at Philadelphia in 1871-1873 and 1875-1877 and at Carson City in 1870 and 1873. The Philadelphia rarities are a result of the banks failure to resume specie payments in gold or silver or even in federal paper. The Carson City rarities were produced because of official orders that limited the mintages, which was then used as an excuse to close the branch Mint. Most of the business strikes of these years were melted. About 30 to 60 percent of the proof coinage of these years survived. Proof mintages for the series range from 1 to 120, which indicated that all proof coins are rare, and many are prohibitively rare in any condition.
The design 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.

Both before and during the Civil War almost a dozen Protestant denominations pressured Congress to add references to God to the Constitution and other government documents. Reverend Mark Richards Watkinson was the first to write to Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase to request that Gods name be added to our coinage. His suggestion for a motto was God, Liberty, Law. Chase ordered Mint Director James Pollock to prepare a suitable motto. Pollocks suggestions included Our Trust Is In God, Our God And Our Country, and God Our Trust. Then Chase decided on In God We Trust to be added to most of the nations coinage. This motto was a subtle reminder that the North considered itself on the side of God with regard to the issue of slavery. A new law was required to allow the motto to be added since previous acts of Congress specified the mottos and devices that were permitted on coins. The new motto was placed on all coins that were deemed large enough to accommodate it.

Christian Gobrecht became the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore. Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration. This was an excellent job and Gobrecht was understandably reluctant to work for the Mint for less money than he was making at the engraving firm. In order to persuade him to leave, Mint Director Robert Patterson prevailed upon Chief Engraver William Kneass, who had had a stroke, to take less in salary so more money would be available to hire Gobrecht on a permanent basis. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Kneass. After Kneass stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif which was used for all denominations of sliver coinage including the half dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and sliver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle.

With an original mintage of 67, the 1898 Proof eagle is fundamentally rare in all conditions. The proofs of this era are found in a range of grades from lightly circulated to mint state. In its population report, NGC shows that this specimen is tied for fourth best with 2 others in Proof 65 UCAM condition with 11 better.