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The so-called transitional eagle with 'In God We Trust' on the reverse. This reverse was adopted in 1866. This forms part of a set along with the half eagle J445/P517 and double eagle J452/P524.
These are believed to have been struck in 1865 although they may also have been restruck in the early 1870s. The first definite appearance of this design was in the April 1870 auction by John Haseltine of coins from the Idler collection. A possible earlier listing may be Cogan's September 1869 sale.
Two examples of this design are known in gold - J449/P521 - Farouk's, first offered in a June 1870 Mason and Company sale, the other, illustrated in the Smithsonian.
Over a dozen are known in copper J450/P522 and were first offered in Haseltine's April 1870 sale of some Idler patterns. Idler is famous today as one of the collector/dealers who had "connections" with the mint. Several of these have been gilted.
Photo courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
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