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Liberty $5 Half Eagles, 1839-1908
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Like the Liberty Head Quarter Eagle, Christian Gobrecht designed the Half Eagles. Prior to 1900, they circulated heavily in the West, where distrust of paper currency was widespread. In the North and East, where paper currency circulated freely, gold coins of all denominations suffered from disuse, most eventually finding their way back to the Mint. There are two major Varieties of the Liberty Half Eagle. These include:
1839-1866 Coronet, No Motto Type
1866-1908 Coronet, With Motto Type
The 1839-C is a minor Variety and is technically a one-year Type coin, since it has the mintmark placement on the Obverse above the date, rather than on the reverse, typical of all subsequent issues.
The Liberty Head Half Eagle was the only U.S. coin to be struck at each of the seven mints. Particularly scarce among the half eagles are the San Francisco issues of 1854 and 1864, the Carson City issues of 1870 and 1878, and the Philadelphia issues of 1875 and 1887. Most of the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mint issues are scarce, and some are unique or unknown in uncirculated grades.
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