1857 Liberty Head Eagle

About This Coin

The 1857 Liberty Head Eagle is a United States Gold Eagle from the Liberty Head Eagles 1838-1907 series — 20th of 70 years in the series. In 1857, coins were struck at the Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San Francisco Mints with a combined mintage of 48,108. This ranks 22nd of 70 years by total mintage, below the series median of 197,849. The obverse features Liberty facing left wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY and the reverse displays a heraldic eagle with shield on breast, olive branch and arrows in talons, with a banner reading E PLURIBUS UNUM. Multiple mint production continued; the 1857-O and 1857-S are collected as branch mint issues. Struck in 90% gold, 10% copper, weighing 16.7 grams, 26.8 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Produced 7 years before the celebrated 1864 key date. Across its variants, estimated values range from $2.5K to $121K depending on mint mark, grade, and strike type. A notable auction result reached $396K in PR66 grade at Goldberg Auctioneers. Designed by Christian Gobrecht.