The SilverTowne Vault Blog

100 Greatest U.S. Coins Series: 1795 Nine Leaves Capped Bust Eagle

Published 11/18/2025

When the Coinage Act of 1792 was established by the United States Mint, it included the call to produce many denominations, one of which was gold coins. However, those did not come until three years later at the behest of George Washington. We get to revisit one of those first gold coins today with the help of Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest United States Coins. Author Jeff Garrett will guide us through the production of the coin and the rarity it is.

#78 – 1795 “Nine Leaves” Capped Bust Eagle

According to Garrett, our first President of the United States wanted gold coins struck before his presidential term ended. He had been in office since 1789 but had no plans to stay for a third term. Then-Mint Director Henry DeSaussure brought 100 gold eagles to the president designed by Robert Scot...read more