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HALF EAGLE – CAPPED HEAD LEFT, LARGE DIAMETER [1813 – 1827]. The gold 5 dollar coin, or half eagle, incurred some changes with the Capped Head Left design shown here. John Reich changed his prior Capped Bust design to a Capped Head (sans bust) in 1813. When Reich left the mint in 1817 the aging Robert Scot made subtle changes to Reich's obverse design, especially to Liberty’s cap -- which became more wrinkled in appearance, and more -- but less elegant -- detail in Liberty's hair. Coin images courtesy of Stack’s Rare Coins, New York City. |  |
HALF EAGLE – CAPPED HEAD LEFT, REDUCED DIAMETER [1829 – 1834]. Upon the death of Robert Scot in 1823, a new Chief Engraver, William Kneass, was appointed. Kneass was intent on improving the quality of US coinage, and as well, the precision of its production. Through 1829 gold 5 dollar coins were struck using an “open collar” which merely positioned the piece in the coin press, but did not restrict the expansion of metal at the moment of striking. Kneass felt that a “closed collar” would stabilize the diameter of the finished coin. The coin above shows the result – a smaller diameter of 22.5 millimeters, down from the 25 millimeters (more or less) of the open collar coins. If you carefully compare this photo with the earlier coin at the top of the page, you can actually see the subtle reduction in size. Coin images courtesy of Stack’s Rare Coins, New York City. |  |
HALF EAGLE – CLASSIC HEAD [1834 – 1838]. Over the years that half eagles (like these) had been minted the US economy expanded. Large quantities of Spanish silver flooded into the country from Mexico. (Remember, this coinage was legal tender in the US at the time.) As silver became more plentiful in circulation, it’s value relative to gold declined. This meant that – if you had an early US gold piece – it was worth more than its face value in silver. The result? Early American gold coins were exchanged for silver, then tossed into the melting pot! American gold pieces became very scarce as a medium of exchange, at least at face value. The remedy was to reduce the weight of US gold coins. Gold 5 dollar coins were reduced in weight from 135 grains to 129 grains. The first half eagles at the new weight were the Classic Head coins designed by William Kneass, an example of which is shown above. Coin images courtesy of Stack’s Rare Coins, New York City. |
