Eagle (United States coin)

The 1932 Eagle, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

The eagle is a base-unit of denomination issued only for gold coinage by the United States Mint. 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base-units of denomination used for circulating coinage in the United States prior to 1933, the year when gold was withdrawn from circulation.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, the 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, the gold half-eagle, the eagle, and the 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 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. A $10 eagle in 1800 would have the equivalent purchasing power of $179.53 today.

Years of production, and composition

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 mm; 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 standard of 22 karats (11 parts gold to 1 part alloy). The weight of quarter eagles was 67.5 troy grains (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.

In 1834, the mint value of silver to gold 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).

In 1837 a small change in the fineness of the gold (increased to exactly .900 fine) was made, and all silver was completely removed. 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.

Starting in 1984, the United States Mint at West Point has issued American Gold Eagles, with the pre-1834 22 kt crown gold composition restored, to the general public as commemoratives. These eagles, like the 1/4 ounce American Eagle gold bullion coins denominated as $10 (see below), are technically legal tender but do not circulate as such since their value is considerably greater.

The comemorative bullion eagle coins have a composition which again includes 3% silver (the rest being copper), which is more silver than the post-1837 circulating gold American coins (which had none), but less silver than the pre-1837 American gold coin alloys, which were about 6% silver (as noted). Because the commemorative bullion coins are guaranteed to have higher and exact fractions of a troy ounce gold content (i.e., exactly 0.5000 troy ounces for the eagle), they might be expected to differ in dimension from their historical counterparts. However, the 22 kt composition and re-addition of silver results in a very similar coin volume, even with the increased gold content, and thus the bullion coin diameters are close to the same as the historical diameters, to within 1.3 mm, depending on the coin.

Proposed $100 "Union" coin

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 patterns of half-union gold coins were minted and presented for inspection to Congress [2], 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. They were also perceived as being unwieldy, weighing in at around 2½ ounces. Despite this absence of a half-union coin for general circulation, a single issue of a gold commemorative $50 coin was minted in 1915 [3]. Although technically still legal tender, the numismatic value vastly exceeds their face value. These coins are generally held either by coin collectors, investors, or museums.

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

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 1986) 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.

In particular, unlike the later (post 1837) eagle coins, the bullion gold American Eagle coins are composed of the older (pre-1834) 22 kt (.9166 fine = 91.66%) crown gold standard rather than the later 0.900 gold/0.100 copper alloy, and have again changed the non-gold remainder to the traditional alloy of 3.00% silver and 5.333% copper. In addition, the bullion gold coins contain exactly 1.00 troy ounce per gold per double eagle, 0.500 troy ounce gold content per half-eagle, and so on.

Mintage of American Bullion Eagles Since 1986

Year	Silver	Gold				Platinum (started 1997)
	1 oz	1 oz	1⁄2 oz	1⁄4 oz	1⁄10 oz	1 oz	1⁄2 oz	1⁄4 oz	1⁄10 oz
1986	5,393,005	1,362,650	599,566	726,031	912,609
1987	11,442,335	1,045,500	131,255	269,255	580,266
1988	5,004,646	465,000	45,000	49,000	159,500
1989	5,203,327	415,790	44,829	81,789	264,790
1990	5,840,210	373,210	31,000	41,000	210,210
1991	7,191,066	243,100	24,100	36,100	165,200
1992	5,540,068	275,000	54,404	59,546	209,300
1993	6,763,762	480,192	73,324	71,864	210,709
1994	4,227,319	221,633	62,400	72,650	206,380
1995	4,672,051	200,636	53,474	83,752	223,025
1996	3,603,386	189,148	39,287	60,318	401,964
1997	4,295,004	664,508	79,605	108,805	528,266	56,000	20,500	27,100	70,250
1998	4,847,549	1,468,530	169,029	309,929	1,344,520	133,002	32,415	38,887	39,525
1999	7,408,640	1,505,026	263,013	309,829	2,750,338	56,707	32,309	39,734	55,955
2000	9,239,132	433,319	79,287	564,232	569,153	10,003	18,892	20,054	34,027
2001	9,001,711	143,605	48,047	128,964	269,147	14,070	12,815	21,815	52,017
2002	10,539,026	222,029	70,027	62,027	230,027	11,502	24,005	27,405	23,005
2003	8,495,008	416,032	79,029	74,029	245,029	8,007	17,409	25,207	22,007
2004	8,882,754	417,019	98,040	72,014	250,016	7,009	13,236	18,010	15,010
2005	8,891,025	356,555	80,023	72,015	300,043	6,310	9,013	12,013	14,013
2006	10,676,522	237,510	66,005	60,004	285,006	6,000	9,602	12,001	11,001
2007	9,028,036	140,016	47,002	34,004	190,010	7,202	7,001	8,402	13,003
2008	20,583,000	710,000	61,000	70,000	305,000	21,800	14,000	22,800	17,000
Total	176,768,482	11,986,538	2,298,746	3,178,508	10,810,757	337,612	211,201	273,428	366,813

Rare eagle coin

A rare $10 Eagle gold coin was acquired by a private collector for $5 million. The coin was a diplomatic gift for United States President Andrew Jackson on his trade missions to Asia. The coin is dated 1804, but in reality it was struck later in 1834 at the Philadelphia Mint.

See also

• American Gold Eagle
• American Silver Eagle
• American Platinum Eagle
• Double Eagle
• Half Eagle

External links and references

• US Gold Eagle by year and type. Histories, photos, and more.
• American Eagle production numbers .