1884 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

1884 Liberty Head half eagles were made at three minting facilities, including those in Philadelphia, Carson City (CC), and San Francisco (S). The Philadelphia and San Francisco mints had roughly equal half eagle mintages, while the Carson City Mint produced a far smaller number of $5 gold coins. While mintages of the Liberty Head $5 gold coin was generally much higher in the 1880s than at any earlier point in the series, 1884, like 1883, marked two low points during the decade as far as overall output of the coin was concerned.

Here’s a rundown of the mintages and values of 1884 $5 Liberty Head half eagle gold coins:

• 1884, 191,030 minted; $787

• 1884-CC, 16,402; $1,250

• 1884-S, 177,000; $787

• 1884 proof, 48; $15,500

*Values are for coins grading Very Fine 20 unless otherwise stated.

It’s tempting for some to think the mintages listed above equate current day population figures, but that’s not the case at all. Most of these coins have been melted over the years, meaning they are really much scarcer than the mintage figures alone might suggest. Liberty Head half eagles, which were designed by Christian Gobrecht, are considered numismatically significant and for that reason are more valuable as collectible coins than gold bullion coins. Incidentally, 1884 half eagles contain 0.24187 ounces of gold, which is a significant sum.