1881 Liberty Head Half Eagle

About This Coin

The 1881 Liberty Head Half Eagle is a United States Gold Half Eagle from the Liberty Head Half Eagles 1839-1908 series — 43rd of 70 years in the series. In 1881, coins were struck at the Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Carson City Mints with a combined mintage of 12.4 million. This represents the highest annual mintage in the entire series, above 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. High mintage year at Philadelphia; the half eagle was a workhorse gold denomination. Struck in 90% gold, 10% copper, weighing 8.36 grams, 21.65 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Produced 8 years before the celebrated 1889 key date. Across its variants, estimated values range from $1.3K to $88K depending on mint mark, grade, and strike type. A notable auction result reached $58K in MS63 grade at Stack's. Designed by Christian Gobrecht.