1834 $5 Classic Head Half Eagle, Crosslet 4 PCGS AU50

A coin such as the 1834 $5 Classic Head half eagle, Crosslet 4, is rarely offered for consideration. PCGS has graded 1,790 of the 1834 Plain 4, but only 118 of the 1834 Crosslet 4. PCGS has graded 10 in AU50, with 47 finer.

U.S. gold specialist David Akers writes, "The 1834...Crosslet 4 is many times more rare than the 1834 Plain 4. It has appeared at auction less often than any other date of this type including the 1838-C, and actually is just as rare as many of the more well known dates of the previous two types. Most known specimens are well worn with VF to EF being typical and AU and UNC virtually unavailable."

Close-up photo of the 1834 Plain 4 and the 1834 Crosslet 4, courtesy of the PCGS Coin Facts website.

Up until the mintage of the $5 Classic Head half eagle in 1834, it was foreign silver, underweight foreign gold, and fractional banknotes that served as exchange in day-to-day U.S. commerce. However, contemporary U.S. gold coins--with a bullion value in international markets that surpassed their face value in silver--were constantly the object of arbitrage and melting during the pre-1834 period. The one gold coin that realized the most elimination through melting was the Capped Head half eagle of 1813-1834. The Mint Act of 1834 dramatically altered that practice, producing gold coins that were reduced in weight so that they would circulate--which had not happened since 1795.