minting of eagles was interrupted in late 1795 because of the death of the assayer to the united states mint, albion cox. at that time, the mint used unpowered screw presses to strike coins: striking such large coins using muscle power was difficult, and few turban head eagles show the entire design strongly. at the end of 1795, the mint had 176 eagles on hand; coinage resumed (with 1795-dated dies) in late march 1796, after most of the stock on hand had been paid out.