Lot 3912
1801 $10 Capped Bust. NGC graded AU-58 T-25. Untoned. Only 44,344 minted. Pop 75. Amazing choice surfaces for the type, the luster, much of which still remains, is alive with rich "old gold" color. Nicely struck for the variety, which is typical for T-25 in having some raised lines from the shield as "die clash" in Liberty's cap. The reverse details are just as boldly struck as those on the obverse. Fully struck coins of this type are desirable (PCGS # 8564) .
"To the shores of Tripoli." There is at the moment a lot of discussion about undeclared wars. America's first such undeclared war took place in 1801, the year of this gold eagle. Conflict with the North African port city of Tripoli began when the Pasha of Tripolitania cut down the flagpole at the U. S. Consulate, a major diplomatic insult, after the U. S. refused to pay tribute to pirates along the Barbary Coast. Later, on the night of February 16, 1804, Lieut. Stephen Decatur and his daredevil crew, with the full permission of President Jefferson, slipped aboard the captured American ship Philadelphia as it lay docked in Tripoli harbor, knifed the guards, set the ship afire by using gunpowder, and rowed safely away. Finally, in 1805, the U. S. consul in Tunis, William Eaton, collected a rabble army in Egypt-consisting of 38 Greeks, 300 Arabs, a dethroned pasha, and 7 marines under Lieut. Preston N. O'Bannon, and marched 600 mile across the desert to attack Tripoli from the rear. The phrase "To the shores of Tripoli" in the U. S. Marines' hymn refers to this incident.
Estimated Value $18,000 - 20,000.
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