Eagle (United States coin)
Encyclopedia
Gold coin
A gold coin is a coin made mostly or entirely of gold. Gold has been used for coins practically since the invention of coinage, originally because of gold's intrinsic value...
age by the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
. It has been obsolete as a circulating denomination since 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base-units of denomination used for circulating coinage in the United States prior to 1933, the year when gold was withdrawn from circulation.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
Cent (United States coin)
The United States one-cent coin, commonly known as a penny, is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar. The cent's symbol is ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. From 1959 to 2008, the reverse...
, the dime
Dime (United States coin)
The dime is a coin 10 cents, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S...
, the dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
, 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
Precious metal
A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value.Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals...
or semi-precious metal that constituted a majority of the alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
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.
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
American Eagle bullion coins
American Eagle bullion coins are produced by the United States Mint.* American Silver Eagle* American Gold Eagle* American Platinum Eagle...
which are manufactured from silver (since 1986), gold (since 1986) or platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
(since 1997).
The 22 kt crown gold standard, but with over 6% silver
Quarter eagles were issued for circulation by the United States Mint from 1796 until 1929; half eagles from 1795 until 1929; eagles from 1795 to 1933; and double eagles from 1850 to 1933, although for each of these ranges of years there were occasional gaps in production. The diameter of quarter eagles was 17 mmMillimetre
The millimetre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousandth of a metre, which is the SI base unit of length....
; of half eagles 21 mm; of eagles 27 mm; and of double eagles 34 mm.
Originally the purity of all circulating gold coins in the United States was the traditional English crown gold
Crown gold
Crown gold is a 22 karat gold alloy, introduced in England for gold crown coin manufacture in 1526 . It is 22/24 = 0.91667 fine or 91.667% gold....
standard of 22 karats
Carat (purity)
The karat or carat is a unit of purity for gold alloys.- Measure :Karat purity is measured as 24 times the purity by mass:where...
(11 parts gold to 1 part alloy). The weight
Weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...
of quarter eagles was 67.5 troy
Troy weight
Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals, gemstones, and black powder.There are 12 troy ounces per troy pound, rather than the 16 ounces per pound found in the more common avoirdupois system. The troy ounce is 480 grains, compared with the avoirdupois ounce,...
grains
Grain (measure)
A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definition of units of mass. However, there is no evidence of any country ever...
(4.37 g); of half eagles 135 troy grains (8.75 g); of eagles 270 troy grains (17.5 g). This resulted in a gold content of 0.516 troy ounces for the eagle.
Gold content drops to a low of 21.58 kt or 89.92% in 1834
In 1834, the mint value of gold to silver of 15:1 (6.11% silver) was changed to 16:1 (5.73% silver) and the metal weight-content standards for both gold and silver coins changed, because at the old ratio and content, it was profitable to export and melt U.S gold coins. Also, the gold proportion was dropped from 22 karats (.9167 fine) to 21.58 kt (.8992 fine).The enduring 90% gold 10% copper standard of 1837 for circulating US coins
In 1837 a small change in the fineness of the gold (increased to exactly .900 fine) was made, and all silver was completely removed (this was in keeping with English tradition, where gold sovereigns then (and now) contained no silver). The new 1837 standard for the eagle was 258 troy grains (16.718 g) of .900 fine gold (with the alloy remainder for all U.S. coins after 1837, to .100 copper and no silver), with other coins proportionately sized. 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.Post-1982 eagle modern commemorative coins
As part of its Modern United States commemorative coinsModern United States commemorative coins
The United States resumed minting commemorative coins in 1982 for the 250th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. Modern commemoratives tend to be restricted to events, buildings and personalities of national or international importance...
program the United States mint has issued several commemorative eagle coins. In 1984 an eagle was issued to commemorate the olympics, and in 2003 to commemorate the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk. The pre-1933 .900 fine gold standard was restored, this would also be used in half-eagle gold commemoratives as well. The coins would be identical in fineness and size of their pre-1933 counterparts of the same face value. In 2000 a unique eagle the 2000 Library of Congress bimetallic ten dollar coin was issued commemorating the Library of Congress consisting of equal weights of an approximately 1/4 oz .9995 fine platinum core and a .900 fine gold outer ring.
List of designs
- Turban headTurban Head eagleThe Turban Head eagle, also known as the Capped Bust eagle, was a ten-dollar gold piece, or eagle, struck by the United States Mint from 1795 to 1804. The piece was designed by Robert Scot, and was the first in the eagle series, which continued until the Mint ceased striking gold coins for...
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
See also
- American Gold EagleAmerican Gold EagleThe American Gold Eagle is an official gold bullion coin of the United States. Authorized under the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, it was first released by the United States Mint in 1986.- Details :...
- American Silver EagleAmerican Silver EagleThe American Silver Eagle is the official silver bullion coin of the United States. It was first released by the United States Mint on November 24, 1986. It is struck only in the one-troy ounce size, which has a nominal face value of one dollar and is guaranteed to contain one troy ounce of 99.9%...
- American Platinum EagleAmerican Platinum EagleThe American Platinum Eagle is the official platinum bullion coin of the United States. The coins were first released by the United States Mint in 1997. It is offered in 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, and 1 troy oz varieties and consists of .9995 fine platinum...
- Double EagleDouble EagleA Double Eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. . The coins are made from a 90% gold and 10% copper alloy....
- Half EagleHalf EagleThe Half Eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since the 1980s. Composed almost entirely of gold, it has a face value of five dollars...
External links and references
- US Gold Eagle by year and type. Histories, photos, and more.
- American Eagle production numbers .