Values
A small-eagle ten-dollar piece is the short first eagle. This page is a series reference, not a price list.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover this piece. Do not paste an auction hammer into the grade columns.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. The heraldic eagle follows. The eagle from 1838 is the later Liberty Head and Indian Head series.
Key Dates
1795 and 1796 are this reverse. 1797 stays here only when the eagle is still small.
Errors
Heraldic eagle dated 1797. The shield is the next type.
Half eagle. Five dollars is not ten. Use the diameter.
Later fineness. The 1834 and 1837 gold standards are not this planchet.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
This page is the small-eagle ten-dollar coin, 1795 through 1797. The heraldic eagle is the other page. The 1795 wreath is the variety guides name.
- 1795 13 leavesThirteen leaves on the palm branch. Guides list it beside the nine-leaf branch.
- 1795 9 leavesNine leaves on the palm branch. It is a reverse variety, not a second denomination.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
Capped Bust right eagles, small eagle, 1795–1797.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: PCGS CoinFacts (2026-08-21). Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
The chart is empty on purpose. The eagle article does not print a year-by-year mintage table. A remembered count does not. The grade columns are empty because this site has no NGC guide extract for this coin.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. The weight row is the 1792 standard for an eagle. No catalog page used here prints a thickness.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Not printed |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | 270 grains standard (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Composition | 11/12 gold, 1/12 alloy (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Edge | Not printed on a cited catalog page |
| Designer | Robert Scot |
No catalog page used for the Capped Bust eagle with the small eagle prints a thickness. Diameter and thickness stay Not printed. The weight is the 1792 eagle standard. There is no capped-head eagle.
Grading
A small-eagle ten-dollar piece wears first on the cap and on the little eagle.
The heraldic eagle is the next reverse. This page stops when the shield appears.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | The cap on the bust. | The cap is the type, not a scratch. |
| Small eagle | The eagle in the wreath. | A shield reverse leaves this page. |
| Date | 1795 through 1797. | 1804 is the heraldic page, not this one. |
| Edge | The edge, left alone. | Do not recut it to make the coin look new. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
See graded photos. The photos that show what VF looks like live at PCGS. We do not host their plates. NGC Coin Explorer is another look if you want a second set.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a capped bust eagle small if you already know the type.
- The cap and the small eagle are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this capped bust eagle small are already slick.
- The cap and the small eagle are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1795 eagle is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The cap and the small eagle are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from the cap and the small eagle.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- The cap and the small eagle are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. The cap and the small eagle still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the cap and the small eagle. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1795 eagle is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on the cap and the small eagle.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on the cap and the small eagle.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on the cap and the small eagle.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on the cap and the small eagle.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean capped bust eagle small for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the cap and the small eagle.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color designations do not apply to this gold coin. See the Lincoln Wheat cent and the glossary.
Overview
The first ten-dollar coins, 1795–1797, pair a capped bust facing right with a small eagle. There is no capped head eagle in the Red Book sense used here, and no bust-left eagle. After this short type the reverse becomes heraldic, and then eagle coinage stops until the series that resumes in 1838.
The photograph is a 1795 eagle with the small eagle, from the National Numismatic Collection.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
The 1792 act set the eagle at 270 grains standard. The Mint struck it alongside the half eagle. The small eagle did not last past the start of the heraldic reverse. The article’s composition table explains later laws. It is not a list of 1795, 1796, and 1797 deliveries.
Design
Obverse: cap, bust right. Reverse: small eagle. The coin is the ten-dollar size. No mint mark. Edge lettering is the design.
People Also Ask
Why is the chart empty?
The eagle article’s table is about later changes in fineness, not a year list for 1795–1797.
Is a half eagle this coin?
No. A half eagle is five dollars and smaller. It has its own small-eagle page.
Does 1797 include the heraldic eagle?
Only when the reverse is still the small eagle. A shield belongs on the heraldic eagle page.
How much is a small-eagle ten-dollar piece worth?
This page does not print guide prices. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not include this coin. An auction result is not a guide cell.
Collector Considerations
If the legend is hard to read, measure the coin against a half eagle before you price it. A shield eagle leaves this page.
A Final Word
The small-eagle ten-dollar page is a short type and an empty chart.
An auction story is not a mintage.