1893 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

1893 Liberty Head half eagles were struck at the Philadelphia, Carson City (CC), New Orleans (O), and San Francisco (S) mints. However, the combined number of half eagles to come from the three branch mints was still lower than the mintage that came from the Philadelphia alone. That was often the case concerning 19th-century coins, and had happened on several occasions in the Liberty Head half eagle series. An interesting footnote about 1893 half eagles that it was the last year the Carson City Mint would produce coinage.

Here’s a look at the mintages and values of 1893 $5 Liberty Head half eagle gold coins:

• 1893, 1,528,120 minted; $717

• 1893-CC, 60,000; $1,109

• 1893-O, 110,000; $753

• 1893-S, 224,000; $717

• 1893 proof, 77; $13,500

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

1893 Liberty Head half eagles contain 0.24187 ounces of gold, though they really are not “bullion” coins and are rather viewed as numismatic collectibles. That’s mainly due to the scarceness of these coins; virtually all pre-1933 U.S. gold coins exist in much smaller numbers today than when originally minted. This is largely because of melting, which happened to large numbers of gold coins during the 20th century.

As a side note, 1893 Liberty Head half eagles were designed by Christian Gobrecht. Serving as the third Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, Gobrecht also designed the Seated Liberty coinage of the 19th century.