Offered is a warmly toned and appealing example of this scarce inaugural Liberty eagle type. Light copper-rose and warmer olive-gold toning is seen on surfaces that offer traces of original satin luster, a bit more pronounced on the reverse. The detail is bold to sharp throughout, with the central design elements sharp and allowing ready appreciation of this design type. One of our favorite offerings in the extensive Griggs Collection, and an important bidding opportunity for advanced gold type collectors and Liberty eagle specialists.President Thomas Jeffersons order to halt silver dollar and eagle coinage in 1804 -- to prevent the eventual destruction of newly minted coins for their bullion content -- resulted in a 33-year period during which no ten-dollar gold pieces were struck in the United States Mint. When production of this denomination resumed in 1838, it coincided with the introduction of Christian Gobrechts Liberty design for U.S. gold coinage. The artists initial portrait of Liberty exhibits long strands of hair pulled from the temple to the bun at the back of the head, as well as deep curvature to the truncation of the bust. This design was used on all 1838-dated coins and some of the 1839-dated coins, before it was replaced by the more familiar Liberty portrait that remained in use through the series end in 1907. As such, the 1838 and 1839 Type of 1838 represent a distinct two-year design, an example of which is sought by collectors seeking to assemble a fully complete type set of classic U.S. Mint gold coinage.Produced in greater numbers, the 1839 Type of 1838 is the more frequently encountered issue of this design, although it is far scarcer than even the mintage of 25,801 pieces might imply. Garrett and Guth (2008) state that the 1839 Type of 1838 is only half as rare as the 1838, this despite the fact that the first-year issue has a mintage of just 7,200 pieces, or one third that of its 1839 counterpart. Offerings of even well worn survivors are few and far between, while your cataloger can count the number of AU and Mint State examples that have crossed his desk over the last 15 years on one hand. Clearly a rare piece, and an extremely important offering that is sure to create considerable excitement in the auction room.
