***Auction Highlight*** NGC 1839/8 Type of 38 Gold Liberty Eagle $10 Graded au58 BY NGC. Offered is an exceedingly rare coin, one of the finest known Liberty Head eagles of the brief and challenging Type of 1838 design. The entire coin displays vivid reddish-gold patina, The design elements in the centers are fully rendered, and the surfaces are very nice for the assigned grade. A beautiful and very rare $10 gold coin that will appeal to both advanced gold type collectors and Liberty Head eagle enthusiasts.The longest-running $10 gold eagle series produced in the United States Mint, the Liberty Head eagle was struck without interruption from 1838 through early 1907. It is the first eagle produced since 1804, President Thomas Jefferson having halted production of both this denomination and the silver dollar that year as rising bullion prices made the coins highly susceptible to melting by speculators. From 1805 through 1837, the largest gold denomination that the United States Mint produced was the $5 half eagle. By 1838, however, two laws had been passed that made it possible for the Mint to resume eagle coinage. The first was the Act of June 28, 1834, which reduced the weight of standard U.S. gold coins and, in so doing, placed the nation's monetary system on a gold standard. The second was the Act of January 18, 1837, a general overhaul of the nation's coinage laws that, among other things, standardized the fineness of gold and silver coins at 900 thousandths.When eagle production finally resumed in 1838, the Mint settled upon the Liberty Head design of Christian Gobrecht, featuring a portrait of Liberty facing left, her hair tied in a bun at the back of her head and wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY. 13 stars encircle the border, and the date is below the portrait. The initial portrait utilized in 1838 and early 1839 had deeper curvature to the truncation of the bust with Liberty's hair pulled back over her ear. The design was modified slightly in 1839 to create the Liberty Head motif that would remain in use through 1907.The basic reverse design also remained unchanged from 1838 to 1907, featuring an eagle with outstretched wings and a shield on its breast. The eagle clutches a group of three arrows in its left talon and an olive branch in its right talon. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around the border and the denomination TEN D. is below the eagle. The reverse was modified in 1866, however, with the addition of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on a scroll above the eagle. To distinguish them from their No Motto predecessors, the Motto eagles of 1866 to 1907 are known as the Type II Liberty Head design.As above, the first iteration of Christian Gobrecht's new Liberty Head eagle bore a distinctive obverse featuring a sweep of hair completely covering Liberty's ear and a peculiarly deep curve to the bust's truncation. Benjamin West's painting Omnia Vincit Amor ("Love Conquers All") served as Gobrecht's model, even down to the beaded cord and coronet style. The first eagles using this design were struck at the end of 1838, with 7,200 pieces intended for circulation on top of four "specimen" coins presented to Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury. In 1839, the same obverse design was employed for the first 2,801 eagles struck bearing that date before the design was modified.The 1839 Type of 1838 eagle is a very scarce coin in all grades, with perhaps just under 250 examples known, with the vast majority well circulated. In Mint State this issue is a formidable rarity and, as with so many dates in the Liberty Head eagle series, it is also an underrated one A Corey's Pick, Bid to Win, Don't let it get Away, you might not find its equal Coin. I give this coin my highest recommendation