Owner Comments:
This is one of my favorite gold pieces. These coins are really scarce. It took me a year and a half to save the money and track this down back in the late 1980s
The mintage was just 3,327 for the year, and this is the much more common 14 star reverse variety. Still common is relative. John Dannreuther in the Early U.S. Gold Varieites book estimated that only 150 to 200 examples of this coin exit. Even so that places it as the third most common variety for the type.
The low mintage was a reflection of the popularity of the early quarter eagles. Those who deposited gold for coinage at the first U.S. mint wanted eagles or $10 gold pieces, during the time they were available, or half ealges or $5 gold pieces. Banks and wealthy merchants, who most often used these gold coins, preferred the larger gold coins to the dime sized quarter eagles.
This coin has better than average luster for the AU-50 and no defects. It has a few adjustment marks, but the Eliasberg and Norweb coins had them too so it's in good company!