LIBERTY HEAD (MOTTO
ON REVERSE) FIVE DOLLARS OR HALF EAGLE (1866-1908)
Gobrecht’s
LIBERTY HEAD (MOTTO ON REVERSE) FIVE DOLLARS OR HALF EAGLE:
The Liberty Head (Motto on Reverse) half eagle was minted
from 1866 to 1908. It was designed by Christian Gobrecht and
showed Liberty wearing a coronet as she faced left in profile.
Her hair is tied in the back with beads while two loose curls
flow down her neck. She is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed
stars with the date below. Dentils are near the edge of both
sides of the coin. The reverse of the Liberty Head (Motto
on Reverse) half eagle shows the heraldic eagle with its head
turned to the left. In its talons it holds an olive branch
and arrows, symbols of peace and preparedness. Above its head
on a banner, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added. The denomination
is below. In addition to dentils, the Liberty Head (Motto
on Reverse) half eagle has a reeded edge.
In March, 1865, a coinage act was passed
that required that the motto be added to all coins large enough
to accommodate it. The Mint interpreted this to mean for gold
coinage the half eagle, the eagle, and the double eagle. The
Liberty Head (Motto on Reverse) half eagle was created as
a result of this mandate. (All silver coins larger than a
dime also had the motto added.)
A prototype in proof only was struck in 1865
of the Liberty Head (Motto on Reverse) half eagle coin. Only
two are known. In 1866 dies were shipped to San Francisco
for the new reverse to be struck; however, evidently they
did not arrive on time and 9,000 1866 No Motto coins were
struck. Later in the year 34,920 Liberty Head (Motto on Reverse)
coins were made bearing the S mintmark.
According to the records of the United States
Treasury Department, the first request for the recognition
of God on coinage was made in a letter from the Reverend Mark
Richards Watkinson of Ridlelyville, Pennsylvania on November
13, 1861 to Salmon P. Chase, Treasury Secretary. “You
are about to submit your annual report to Congress respecting
the affairs of the national finances,” Watkinson said
in the letter. “One fact touching our currency has hitherto
been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty
God in some form in our coins.” This letter set off
a series of events that caused an 1864 law to be passed allowing
the “In God We Trust” motto to be placed on coins
and the 1865 law that mandated it. Mintages of the Liberty
Head (Motto on Reverse) half eagle range from an extremely
low 200 in 1875 to 5,708,802 in 1881. The 1875 coin is extremely
rare. Both major grading services have certified only 12 in
all grades and that does not account for resubmissions and
crossovers.
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