1797 Large Eagle

The 1797 Large Eagle is the inaugural strike of the Heraldic Eagle reverse on the ten-dollar gold piece. Sometime in 1797 the Mint retired the Small Eagle reverse used since 1795 and replaced it with a heraldic design adapted by chief engraver Robert Scot from the Great Seal of the United States. That second reverse subtype carried the denomination through 1804, making this date the bridge between the two designs. The obverse retains the 16-star arrangement adopted in 1796 to mark Tennessee statehood.

The new reverse shows a spread eagle with a Union shield across its breast, a banner reading E PLURIBUS UNUM held in the beak, and a cluster of stars and clouds above the head. Arrows appear in one talon and an olive branch in the other, an arrangement collectors still debate against the Great Seal's heraldic convention. For authentication, the Heraldic Eagle reverse itself is the unambiguous attribution that separates this issue from the 1797 Small Eagle. Other checks remain standard for the early gold series: a target weight near 17.50 grams, the correct 33 mm diameter, a reeded edge with no casting seam, and parallel adjustment lines on either side that are an original Mint feature rather than damage. The Bass-Dannreuther reference recognizes three die marriages (BD-2, BD-3, BD-4); attribution should be confirmed against published photographs rather than guessed from neck shape alone.

Total Heraldic Eagle production for the year is estimated at roughly ten to twelve thousand pieces, with a few hundred surviving across all grades. Examples appear at major auctions periodically and have realized six-figure prices in higher grades, with BD-3 the toughest of the three marriages to locate. For most collectors the 1797 Large Eagle is pursued as the type coin that opens the second reverse subtype rather than as a date acquisition. Read more in the Draped Bust Eagle series history.