Christian Gobrecht and the $5 Gold Liberty Head 1839-1908
Christian Gobrecht was the Second Engraver of the US Mint but in 1835, the Chief Engraver, William Kneass, suffered a stroke and was incapacitated. Gobrecht assumed the Chief Engraver’s duties in the Fall of 1835 but he did not become the Chief Engraver of the US Mint until 1840.
In 1839, he was asked to redesign the $5 Gold, Classic Head, No Motto Half Eagle. Gobrecht designed a younger, thinner, more youthful Miss Liberty. Like her predecessor, she faced left, but her hair was not tousled locks. It was now neatly positioned on her head in a bun, with a braid at the end. She was still surrounded by 13 six-pointed stars with the date underneath her.
The eagle on the reverse became thinner but not scrawny. She still held arrows and an olive branch in her talons with “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” around. The denomination was now spelled out as “FIVE D.” below the eagle. The eagle’s wingspan now reached from rim to rim.
This design remained unchanged until 1866 when a scroll with “E PLURIBUS UNUN” was added above the eagle on the reverse. The coins bearing that modification are known as “Variety 2 – With Motto.”
The Variety-2 coins were minted from 1866 until 1908 when an entirely new design replaced them.
These No Motto Half Eagles were struck at five different US Mints:
- Philadelphia (no mint mark)
- Charlotte (C)
- Dahlonega (D)
- New Orleans (O)
- San Francisco (S)
Over 9 million of these coins were struck by all of the mints combined but, of course, Charlotte and Dahlonega examples are among the most expensive and desirable. The rarest Philadelphia coins are those struck during the Civil War years when hoarding across the country was inevitable and widespread. Other scarce dates from the branch mints include:
- 1842-C Small Date Variety
- 1842-D Large Date Variety
- 1861-C (The last coin struck at this mint before the mint was taken over by the Confederacy)
- 1854-S Two are known but 268 were supposedly struck according to US Mint records.
New Orleans gold coin collectors are able to complete collections easier than those collecting Charlotte or Dahlonega coins. Proof issues from, Philadelphia exist beginning in 1859, but they were struck in very small quantities – from a low of 25 coins to a high of only 80 pieces.
Variety – 1
| Date | Type | Mintage | Fine Value | Unc Value |
| 1839 | Liberty Head No Motto | 118,143 | $600 | $10,000 |
| 1839-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 17,205 & 18,939 | $2,800 | $28,000 |
| 1840 to 1841 | Liberty Head No Motto | 137,332 to 15,833 | $600 | $7,500 |
| 1840-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 18,992 & 22,896 | $2,000 | $18,000 |
| 1841-D | Liberty Head No Motto | 29,392 | $2,500 | $18,500 |
| 1841-O | Liberty Head No Motto | 50? | None exist | None exist |
| 1842 to 1846-O | Liberty Head No Motto | 611,205 to 58,000 | $700 | $6,500 |
| 1842-C, Sm Date | Liberty Head No Motto | 27,432 | $8,500 | $100,000 |
| 1842-C Lg Date | Liberty Head No Motto | Included | $2,000 | $25,000 |
| 1842-D Sm Date | Liberty Head No Motto | 59,608 | $2,000 | $15,000 |
| 1842-D Lg Date | Liberty Head No Motto | Included | $3,000 | $60,000 |
| 1842-O | Liberty Head No Motto | 16,400 | $2,500 | $30,000 |
| 1843-C | Liberty Head No Motto | 44,277 | $1,500 | $15,000 |
| 1843-D | Liberty Head No Motto | 98,452 | $2,000 | $12,000 |
| 1844-C | Liberty Head No Motto | 23,631 | $2,000 | $25,000 |
| 1844-D | Liberty Head No Motto | 88,982 | $2,000 | $20,000 |
| 1845-D | Liberty Head No Motto | 90,629 | $2,000 | $12,000 |
| 1846-C | Liberty Head No Motto | 12,995 | $2,000 | $20,000 |
| 1846-D Both | Liberty Head No Motto | 80,294 | $2,000 | $12,000 |
| 1847 to 1861 | Liberty Head No Motto | 915,981 to 16,734 | $400 | $5,000 |
| 1847-C, D, O | Liberty Head No Motto | 84,151 to 12,000 | $2,000 | $12,000 |
| 1848-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 64,472 & 47,465 | $2,000 | $15,000 |
| Date | Type | Mintage | Fine Value | Unc Value |
| 1849-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 64,823 & 39,036 | $2,000 | $20,000 |
| 1850-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 63,591 & 43,984 | $1,750 | $15,000 |
| 1851-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 62,710 & 49,176 | $1,750 | $12,000 |
| 1852-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 72,574 & 91,584 | $1,750 | $10,000 |
| 1853-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 66,571 & 89,678 | $1,750 | $7,500 |
| 1854-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 39,283 & 56,413 | $1,750 | $10,000 |
| 1854-S | Liberty Head No Motto | 268 (2 Known) | $2,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
| 1855-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 39,788 & 22,432 | $2,000 | $12,000 |
| 1855-O | Liberty Head No Motto | 11,100 | $1,250 | $25,000 |
| 1856-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 28,457 & 19,786 | $2,000 | $15,000 |
| 1856-O | Liberty Head No Motto | 10,000 | $1,000 | $15,000 |
| 1857-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 31,360 & 17,046 | $2,000 | $12,000 |
| 1857-O | Liberty Head No Motto | 13,000 | $1,000 | $35,000 |
| 1858-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 38,856 & 15,362 | $1,750 | $25,000 |
| 1858-S | Liberty Head No Motto | 18,600 | $2,000 | $40,000 |
| 1859-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 31,847 & 10,366 | $2,000 | $12,000 |
| 1859-S | Liberty Head No Motto | 13,220 | $1,000 | $30,000 |
| 1860-C & D | Liberty Head No Motto | 14,813 & 14,635 | $2,000 | $30,000 |
| 1860-S | Liberty Head No Motto | 21,200 | $2,000 | $35,000 |
| 1861-C | Liberty Head No Motto | 6,879 | $5,000 | $60,000 |
| 1861-D | Liberty Head No Motto | 1,597 | $30,000 | $150,000 |
| 1861-S to 1866-S | Liberty Head No Motto | 27,612 to 2,442 | $3,500 | $30,000 |
| 1864-S | Liberty Head No Motto | 3,888 | $17,500 | $125,000 |
| 1865 | Liberty Head No Motto | 1,270 | $6,500 | $40,000 |
Variety – 2
| Date | Type | Mintage | Fine Value | Unc Value |
| 1866 to 1884-CC | Liberty Head With Motto | 6,700 to 16,402 | $1,000 | $15,000 |
| 1868 to 1908 | Liberty Head with Motto | 5,700 to 421,874 | $400 | $2,500 |
| 1870-CC | Liberty Head With Motto | 7,675 | $20,000 | $110,000 |
| 1871-CC | Liberty Head with Motto | 20,770 | $5,000 | $75,000 |
| 1872-CC | Liberty Head With Motto | 16,980 | $3,500 | $30,000 |
| 1873-CC | Liberty Head with Motto | 7,416 | $7,500 | $175,000 |
| 1874-CC | Liberty Head With Motto | 21,198 | $2,500 | $40,000 |
| 1875 | Liberty Head with Motto | 200 | $85,000 | $450,000 |
| 1875-CC | Liberty Head with Motto | 11,828 | $3,500 | $100,000 |
| 1876-CC | Liberty Head With Motto | 6,887 | $5,000 | $50,000 |
| 1876-S, 1877 & 1877-CC | Liberty Head with Motto | 8,680 to 1,132 | $3,000 | $37,500 |
| 1878-CC | Liberty Head With Motto | 9,054 | $5,000 | $90,000 |
| 1879-CC to 1883-CC | Liberty Head with Motto | 82,817 to 13,886 | $1,500 | $25,000 |
| 1892-O | Liberty Head With Motto | 10,000 | $2,000 | $20,000 |
| 1893-CC | Liberty Head with Motto | 60,000 | $1,000 | $10,000 |
Expand your collection today and shop our assortment of $5 Liberty Half Eagle Coins (1839-1908).
