1907-S Eagle - 1907-S $10 PCGS MS63. This conditionally scarce, Mint State, Western branch mint 1907-S Eagle has a strong strike and bright mint luster in protected areas. Full details are found on the centers of the stars, the eagles neck, and the area to the lower left of the shield. The surfaces are a mixture of yellow gold and grayish gold, which attest to the coins originality. The surfaces are clean for the grade with no notable abrasion marks or other distractions that require individual description. The scuff mark on the center of the reverse is on the holder not the coin. 

The Liberty Head eagle was designed by Christian Gobrecht. 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 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 1866 the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to a ribbon on the reverse above the eagles head. This addition created the Type 2 eagle of which the present coin is an example.

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. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to William Kneass. After Kneass suffered a debilitating 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 silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver 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. 

Garrett and Guth in their Encyclopedia indicate that the 1907-S is the scarcest of any 20th century Liberty Head eagle and very underrated. In its population report, PCGS shows 17 1907-S eagles certified at the MS63 level.