Collecting Classic Head Gold Half Eagles

Douglas Winter Numismatics - As a companion piece to the Sunnyvale Collection of Classic Head half eagles which we offering for sale in mid-October 2020, we are creating a guide for assembling a set of these interesting coins. (Link to the collection coming soon!)

Classic Head half eagles were struck from 1834 through 1838. They form a bridge between the early gold issues (those struck from 1795 through 1834) and the ubiquitous Liberty Head issues, struck from 1839 through 1908.

A basic set of Classic Head half eagles contains eight coins: six issues from Philadelphia (the 1834 is found with a Plain 4 and a Crosslet 4), and one each from Charlotte and Dahlonega. None of these is rare from the standpoint of overall availability, but the two branch mint coins are very scarce in higher grades as is the 1834 Crosslet 4. As a rule, the Philadelphia coins—save for the Crosslet 4—can be located in all circulated grades with relative ease (although finding nice, original high-end About Uncirculated coins, even for the most common issues, can be a challenge).



Many of the common Classic Head issues are not well-struck and this is a fault of the design which was difficult to fully bring up, especially at the central obverse. In my opinion, strike is an unimportant factor with these coins and surface preservation is far more critical in determining if a coin should or should not be added to a collection.

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