1834 $5 Classic Head Half Eagle, Plain 4 PCGS XF45 Ex. Rive d'Or Collection

Note: This coin has not been sent to CAC for review and possible endorsement by AUCM.

After the passage of the Coinage Act of 1834, the specification of the $5 half eagle were modified and the size reduced. U.S. Mint Engraver William Kneass crafted the new Classic Head design. However, this series lasted a mere five years. The 1834 No Motto, Plain 4, $5 is considered to be common, which makes this offering from AUCM more affordable to collectors. Writes gold specialist David Akers, “The head of Miss Liberty comes in two different sizes, but the differences are relatively minor. Most specimens I have seen show some weakness in the hair curls around Liberty's face.” PCGS has graded 346 as XF45, with 894 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue as $1,750.00 in XF45.

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 the opening of the U.S. Mint in 1794.