1839 Liberty Head Eagle Proof : A Collector’s Guide

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
The 1839/8 Liberty Head Eagle Proof is an extraordinarily rare Proof striking of engraver Christian Gobrecht’s long-running $10 gold coin design.

Although five examples were reportedly struck, only three are known. That’s one more than was known when Walter Breen published his Encyclopedia of United States and Colonial Proof Coins in 1977. The third turned up in a European collection in 1981.

This Proof issue has the 1839/8 overdate designation because remnants of the 1838 are somewhat visible upon inspection under a jeweler’s loupe. Other features common to the three coins are die lines that run into the reverse field from the denticles.

An accounting of the known examples has one being struck for the Mint Cabinet, the United States Mint’s coin collection. The Mint Cabinet was curated by Adam Eckfeldt, the second Chief Coiner of the U.S. Mint. The collection was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1923 out of security concerns following an armed robbery that took place at the Denver Mint. Experts like Jeff Garrett and others have reviewed this coin and consider it the second-finest known.

The finest is the other coin that was known to Breen. Graded NGC PF67UCAM, this example traces its provenance back to legendary 19th-century collector Lorin Gilbert Parmelee. The Parmelee coin passed through the Jenks and Clapp collections before being purchased (along with the rest of the Clapp Collection) en bloc by Louis Eliasberg, Sr. in 1942. The last recorded sale of this coin took place in 2007 when it brought $1.61 million. Today, this coin would likely command $2 to $3 million.

The third coin was previously graded PR61 by PCGS. Today it is illustrated at PCGS CoinFacts as a PR62.

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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

Top Population: PCGS PR62 (1, 9/2024), NGC PF67UCAM (1, 9/2024), and CAC None Graded (9/2024).

• NGC PF67UCAM #919538-001: “The Lorin G. Parmelee Collection,” New York Coin and Stamp Co., June 1890, Lot 1097; “The John Story Jenks Collection,” Henry Chapman, December 1921, Lot 5735; John H. Clapp; Clapp Estate; Sold en bloc to Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., 1942; “The Louis Eliasberg, Sr., “Bowers and Ruddy, October 1982, Lot 662; Mike Brownlee; Unknown Intermediaries; Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, September 1999, Lot 1817; Bowers and Merena, August 2003, Lot 4042; Heritage Auctions, January 4, 2007, Lot 3657 – $1,610,000. Pedigree research by Heritage Auctions.
• Estimated PR66DCAM: United States Mint Cabinet; National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution.
• PCGS PR62 #21922147:  Eastern European Collection; Purchased by New England Rare Coin Gallery as an intact three-coin 1839 Proof Set, 1982. As three-coin set. Bowers and Merena, May 1993; Unknown intermediaries; As PCGS PR61 #21922147. Heritage Auctions, August 3, 2012, Lot 5393 – $282,000. Since this sale, the coin has upgraded one point. Illustrated at PCGS CoinFacts.

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Design

Obverse:

A classical depiction of Liberty faces left, hair bundled at the back and secured with a beaded tie but with a couple of curls cascading down the neck to the back and the side. The word LIBERTY stretches across a coronet above her forehead. Thirteen six-pointed stars encircle just inside a denticulated rim, broken only by the date at the bottom and offset slightly to the left in 1838 but centered from 1839 forward. Liberty’s portrait was modified in 1839, with changes to the truncation line at the shoulder and in the arrangement of hair over the ear.

Reverse:

A left-facing eagle centers on the reverse, wings outstretched and a shield across the breast. Three arrows are in the eagle’s left or sinister claw (viewer’s right), and an olive branch is held in the eagle’s right or dexter claw. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA circles inside a denticulated rim, broken into three parts by the eagle’s wing tips. At the bottom is the denomination TEN D., separated from the legend by a centered dot on either side. The size of the reverse lettering was reduced in 1839.

Edge:

The edge of the $10 gold No Motto Liberty Head Eagle is reeded, a common anti-counterfeiting tactic for precious metal coinage.

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1839 Liberty Head Eagle Proof Coin Specifications

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