1807 $5 Capped Liberty Half Eagle NGC AU55 First Year Design Mintage- 51,605 PQ!

1807 $5 Capped Liberty Half Eagle NGC AU55 Facing Left

Low Mintage- 51,605 PQ!

First year of issue!

The Capped Bust motif Reich created for the 1807 half eagle features a buxom Miss Liberty facing left, flanked by seven stars to the left and six to the right. She is wearing a cloth cap inscribed LIBERTY, with curly hair falling out from the edge of her cap down to her shoulder. Reich’s Liberty has a distinctly European look, completely different from any previous depiction. When the coins entered circulation, newspapers of the day sardonically reported that Reich’s rendition was actually modeled after “the artist’s fat mistress.” Although the designer’s initials were not on the coin, almost all of Reich’s obverses have a characteristic notched point on the lowest star on the right—as his “signature.” On the half eagles, the notch faces the coin’s border. His reverse design depicts an eagle with outstretched wings, perched on a palm branch and holding three arrows in its claws. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM appears on a ribbon above the eagle, and the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and 5D. surround the central design. One of Reich’s innovations was to place the denomination on gold and silver coins. Except for the copper coins and the 1796-97 half dollars, earlier designs had no indication of value, commonly passing by weight and fineness.

Fewer than 1 percent survived melting

The Philadelphia Mint struck only 399,013 half eagles of this type between 1807 and 1812, and many were melted in later years, suffering the same fate as most U.S. gold minted before 1834. Possibly 1% of the mintage survived, mostly as curiosities, along with a few examples saved by early numismatic pioneers.