What Happened to the Eagles?

[Condottiero Magno]

Presumably any that may have been moved with the imperial regalia of the west in 476 were melted for money (possibly by heraclius to fund his campaign to combat the sassies) or captured in the sack of 1204 and melted.

Aquilae were unlikely to have been worth much to have been melted down for coins, though bronze had a high scrap value, and would've been retained for as long as the unit in question was in existence and possibly removed from storage and assigned to newly formed ones. The Crusaders might've melted down the remaining aquilae, but more than likely took it back as trophies, like the bronze horses now in Venice.