Premier Coin Galleries - Liberty Head Half Eagle
The Half Eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since the 1980s. Composed almost entirely of gold, it has a face value of five dollars. Its production was authorized by The Act of April 2, 1792, and it was the first gold coin minted by the United States.
Liberty Head Half Eagle Design
In 1839 the coin was redesigned again. The new obverse was designed by Christian Gobrecht and is known as the “Libery Head or “Coronet head”. The reverse design remained largely the same, although the value was changed from “5 D.” to “Five D.”. For those struck at the Philidephia Mint, there was no longer any silver in the coin, its composition was now .900 gold and .100 copper. However, gold ore used at the southern branch mints of Charlotte and Dahlonega had a high natural silver content, and many of these coins contained up to five percent silver. Its weight was virtually the same, 8.359 grams, but the diameter was reduced one final time, to 21.6 mm, in 1840, for a gold content of 0.242 Troy Oz. This design was used for nearly 70 years, from 1839 to 1908, with a modest change in 1866, when “In God We Trust” was placed on the reverse above the eagle. It holds the distinction of being the only coin of a single design to be minted at seven U.S. Mints: Philadelphia, Dahlonega, Charlotte, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, and Denver.
Article Source: en.wikipedia.org
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