1842 Liberty Head Half Eagle

About This Coin

The 1842 Liberty Head Half Eagle is a United States Gold Half Eagle from the Liberty Head Half Eagles 1839-1908 series — an early issue, 4th of 70 years in the series. In 1842, coins were struck at the Charlotte, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Dahlonega Mints with a combined mintage of 159,351. This ranks 24th of 70 years by total mintage, below the series median of 360,195. The obverse features Liberty facing left wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY and the reverse displays a heraldic eagle with shield on breast, olive branch and arrows in talons, with a banner reading E PLURIBUS UNUM. Both large and small letter varieties exist at some mints. Charlotte and Dahlonega issues are scarce. Struck in gold, weighing 8.36 grams, 21.65 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Across its variants, estimated values range from $1.7K to $188K depending on mint mark, grade, and strike type. A notable auction result reached $173K in PR64 grade at Heritage Auctions. Designed by Christian Gobrecht.