$10 Gold Coin
The gold eagle coin
was a base-unit of denomination issued only for
gold coins by the United States Mint. The eagle was the largest of the four
main decimal base-units of denomination used for circulating coinage in the United
States prior to 1933, the year when gold was withdrawn from circulation. These four
main base-units of denomination were the cent, the dime, the dollar, and the eagle,
where a dime is 10 cents, a dollar is 10 dimes, and an eagle is 10 dollars. Just
as the cent base-unit of denomination served as the basis of the copper half cent,
the copper cent, and the copper double-cent coins and just as the dime base-unit
of denomination served as the basis of the silver half-dime, the silver dime, and
the silver double-dime coins and just as the dollar base-unit of denomination served
as the basis of the silver quarter-dollar, the silver half-dollar, the silver dollar,
and the gold dollar coins, the eagle base-unit of denomination served as the basis
of the gold quarter-eagle, the gold half-eagle, the gold eagle, and the gold double-eagle coins.
With the exceptions of the gold dollar coin, the gold three-dollar coin, the three-cent
nickel, and the five-cent nickel, the unit of denomination of coinage prior to 1933
was conceptually linked to the precious or semi-precious metal that comprised a
majority of the alloy used in that coin. In this regard the United States followed
long-standing British and European practice of different base-unit denominations
for different precious and semi-precious metals. In the United States, the cent
was the base-unit of denomination in copper. The dime and dollar were the base-units
of denomination in
silver. The eagle was the base-unit of denomination in gold.
During the 1850s following the discovery of gold in California, an additional fifth
base-unit of denomination was proposed, called a "union" whose value would have
been 10 eagles or, equivalently, 100 dollars. Although prototypes of union and half-union
gold coins were minted and presented
for inspection to Congress, Congress did not pass a law that authorized the minting
of union-denominated and half-union-denominated coins for circulation because the
double-eagle coin
was viewed as a substantial sum of money for the general public at the time and
a half-union or union coin would primarily have circulated only among banks and
other financial institutions. Despite this absence of a half-union coin for general
circulation, a single issue of a gold commemorative $50 gold coin was minted in
1915. All of these gold coins have been retired and are no longer produced for circulation.
Although technically still legal tender, the value of the gold content vastly exceeds
the face value in the years following 1971, the year at which the value of the dollar
ceased being pegged to a fixed amount of gold. They are generally held either by
coin collectors or as an investment in gold.
Gold quarter eagles were issued for circulation by the United States Mint from 1796
until 1929; half eagles from 1795 until 1929; gold eagles from 1795 to 1933; and
gold double eagles from 1850 to 1933, although for each of these ranges of years
there were occasional gaps in production. The diameter of gold quarter eagles was
17 mm; of gold half eagles 21 mm; of gold eagles 27 mm; and of gold double eagles
34 mm. The purity of all circulating
gold coins in the United States was 22 karats (11 parts gold to 1 part alloy).
The weight of gold quarter eagles was 67.5 troy grains (4.37 g); of gold half eagles
135 troy grains (8.75 g); of gold eagles 270 troy grains (17.5 g); of gold double
eagles 540 troy grains (1.125 troy ounces or 35 g).
LIST OF DESIGNS
Turban Head 1795–1804
- Turban Head, small eagle 1795–1797
- Turban Head, large eagle 1797–1804
Liberty Head (Coronet) 1838–1907
- Coronet, without motto 1838–1866
- Coronet, with motto 1866–1907
AMERICAN EAGLE: SILVER, GOLD AND PLATINUM BULLION COINS
The United States' circulating eagle denomination from the late 18th century to
first third of the 20th century should not be confused with the American Eagle bullion
coins which are manufactured from silver (since 1986), gold (since 1987)
or platinum (since 1997). Bullion coins carry a nominal face value, but their value
is mainly dictated by their troy weight and the current precious metal price.
Information taken from Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia