American Silver Eagle otherwise—it was revived for the Silver Eagle decades later. The obverse is inscribed with the year of minting or issuance, the word "LIBERTY", and the phrase "IN GOD WE TRUST". The reverse was designed by John Mercanti and portrays a heraldic eagle behind a shield; the eagle grasps an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left talon, echoing the Great Seal of the United States; above the eagle are thirteen five-pointed stars representing the Thirteen Colonies. The reverse is inscribed with the phrases "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", "1 OZ. FINE SILVER~ONE DOLLAR", and "E PLURIBUS UNUM"
Great Seal of the United States engraver added a border of [[acanthus (genus)|acanthus]] leaves. Depicting an eagle with a [[Crest (feathers)|crest]] is typical in heraldry, but is at odds with the official blazon of the seal which specifies a bald eagle (which have no crests). The blazon does not specify the arrangement of the stars (which were randomly placed in Thomson's sketch) nor the number of points; the engraver chose six-pointed stars (typical of English heraldry), and arranged them in a larger six-pointed star. No drawing made by the engraver has ever been found, and it is not known if Thomson provided any. This first die