It is certain that the coin we now make is very imperfect. --Robert R. Livingston to James Madison, June 13, 1801.Lively pale green tones highlight both satiny surfaces, only lightly reflective on the obverse but deeply mirrored on the reverse. The overall color is majestic deep yellow gold, mellowing to near-orange in areas of the fields and peripheries and attracting similar copper tones on some areas of the relief. The strike has educed definitive detail from every intricacy of the dies on both sides, which show every graver stroke and every punch. The faintest evidence of planchet adjustment is seen at the wingtip at left and just left of the tip of the tail, though the attractive and regular parallel lines that underlie the obverse fields in areas come from the same process. No heavy marks are seen on either side, just the most minor lines and gentle abrasions, and a pair of twinned natural planchet chips between 18 of the date. The dies are uncracked but show some evidence of a light clash, manifesting on the obverse in the area between the two shoulder locks on Libertys portrait and peeking out from beneath the bust truncation above 80 of the date. On the reverse they appear over the eagles head, above US of PLURIBUS, and at the left upper shield tip. Light lapping has reduced the severity of the clashmarks but not measurably affected any design details. The particularly reflective reverse surface in this die state is a byproduct of the lapping process; later states, as on the next example, received more lapping and lose this reflective finish.A coin this attractive makes Robert Livingstons comment to James Madison seem cryptic. Livingston, who was on the committee that oversaw Jeffersons authorship of the Declaration of Independence, had a longstanding hobby interest in steam power. Robert Fultons first steamship was named the Clermont after Livingstons estate on the Hudson, which served as its home port. In 1801, two engineers working on steam engines in Philadelphia, Benjamin H. Latrobe and Nicholas J. Roosevelt, had approached Livingston to propose a system of steam power for the United States Mint. Carrying the water for this commercial concern, Livingston tried to sell Secretary of State James Madison on the idea, suggesting that the Mint was too expensive and made a subpar product. While Madison had executive oversight of the Mint, he never responded to Livingstons entreaties.While two die varieties are known with the 1801 date, nearly all known specimens are from this combination. The other 1801 variety suffered a total failure of both dies fairly early in its life; today, that die marriage is rated Rarity-5. Many hundreds of survivors exist from this die marriage, but not all of the 44,344 eagles struck this year were dated 1801. Many were dated 1800, including some with that date that used the reverse die from 1801 BD-1 in a later die state. Dannreuther suggests that there is a possibility some 1799-dated eagles may have even been coined this year.Blessed with special freshness and aesthetic appeal, this coin stands out among the crowded field of 1801 eagles. When all grades are considered, this is the easiest early eagle to acquire, often selected by type collectors who can have their pick of specimens in most states of preservation over the span of a few years. As a gem, the rarity of this variety elevates dramatically, and the MS-65 level represents the highest echelon reached by an 1801 eagle seen by PCGS..
