The first regular coin struck for the United States was the Gold Half Eagle. First issued in 1795, it showed a plump Liberty facing right wearing an oversized soft cap. The reverse showed a scrawny eagle holding a wreath in its mouth. The design of this Gold Half Eagle was used until 1798; however, also in 1795 a second reverse with a Heraldic Eagle was used until 1807. The newer reverse had mixed up heraldry in that the arrows and olive branch were held in the wrong talons. The next Gold Half Eagles had Liberty facing left wearing a Phrygian cap. This design, with a modified heraldic reverse that corrected the previous errors and the denomination written as 5 D., remained in use until 1812. However, in 1810 the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM was added to the reverse. In 1813 the head was modified changing the truncation and features of Liberty. The Capped Head to Left, as the new Gold Half Eagle was called, remained in use until 1834 when they were replaced with the Classic Head design. It used a motif similar to the Large Cents of 1808 to 1814. The longest lasting Gold Half Eagles design type was the Liberty Head or Coronet that was in use from 1839 to 1908. Similar to the Coronet Large Cent, the design was modified in 1866 to add the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to the reverse. The denomination was also changed to FIVE D. The final Gold Half Eagle was issued from 1908 to 1929. It was incuse and showed a realistic Native American obverse and a standing eagle reverse.

The Gold Half Eagles have been a popular collector and investor coin. For gold type collectors a number of types of the denomination are available. There are also great rarities in the Half Eagles series.