1886 S $10 Liberty Head Eagle United States GOLD Coin
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:20639978 | Era: 1800s |
| Composition: Gold | Country: United States |
Lovely 1886 Gold coin with a lot of history and nearly half an ounce of Gold in a Liberty Head coronet with Motto from the San Francisco MintThe Eagle is the United States $10 Gold coin issued by the United States Mint from 1792 to 1933.The eagle was the largest of the four main decimal base-units of denomination used for circulating coinage in the United States prior to 1933, the year when gold was withdrawn from circulation. These four main base-units of denomination were the cent, t...he dime, the dollar, and the eagle, where a dime is 10 cents, a dollar is 10 dimes, and an eagle is 10 dollars. The eagle base-unit of denomination served as the basis of the gold quarter-eagle (US$ 2.50), the gold half-eagle (US $5), the eagle (US $10), and the double-eagle coins (US $20).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 constituted a majority of the alloy used in that coin. In this regard the United States followed long-standing 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 although, unlike "cent", "dime" (or "disme"), and "dollar", gold coins never specified their denomination in units of "eagles". Thus, a double eagle showed its value as "twenty dollars" rather than "two eagles".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 or gold (since 1986), or platinum (since 1997).In 1837 Gold content in Eagles was raised to 90.0%In 1837 a small change in the fineness of the gold (increased to exactly .900 fine) was made, and the alloy (now 10% of the coin's weight) was again legally defined as silver and copper, with silver capped at no more than half. (i.e. 5% of total coin weight) The new 1837 standard for the eagle was 258 grains (16.7 g) of .900 fine gold, with other coins proportionately sized.Between 1838 and 1840, the silver content was reduced to zero-the eagle in 1838, half eagle in 1839, and quarter eagle in 1840, -resulting in U.S. gold coins being 90% gold and 10% copper. Using only copper as the alloy in gold coins matched longstanding English practice (see crown gold). The 1837 standard resulted in a gold content of only 0.9675 troy ounces of gold per double eagle and 0.48375 troy ounces for the eagle. It would be used for all circulating gold coins until U.S. gold coin circulation was halted in 1933.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 • Indian Head 1907-1933
