Turban Head Half Eagle

The Turban Head Half Eagle gold coin (oftentimes referred to at the Liberty Cap half-eagle or Draped Bust/Heraldic Eagle half-eagles), was our nation’s first gold coin.

Specifications

 * Designer: Robert Scot
 * Obverse Design:
 * Reverse Design:
 * Edge: Reeded
 * Weight: ±8.748 grams
 * Diameter: ±25 millimeters
 * Composition:  Gold (91.7%); Silver and Copper (8.3%)
 * Dates Minted: 1795-1807

Background
Struck from 1795 through 1807, its life-span corresponded with the presidencies of George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. But it was also struck during the first years of the United States Mint, in a climate that can only be classified as chaotic: an annual Yellow Fever sweeping through Philadelphia every summer throughout the 1790's, chronic silver and gold bullion shortages, bullion speculators making a profit on U.S silver and gold coins by shipping them overseas in exchange for heavier silver pesos, coin dies that were constantly wearing out, coin dies that constantly had to be re-engraved, less than completely accurate mintage records, and a Chief Engraver who was half-blind!

The Turban Head or Liberty Cap half-eagle passed into history mid-way through 1807. It was replaced by the John Reich-designed Capped Bust half-eagle of 1807-34.

History
The $5 gold coin was authorized with the first Coinage Act of 1792. But when mint operations began in 1793, only copper half-cents and cents were coined. In 1794, the U.S. Mint continued to strike the copper coins, but also concentrated on getting the silver coinage off the ground. Finally, by 1795, the U.S. Mint had amassed enough gold bullion, and had dies prepared for their first production of gold coins– the gold coin they would strike that year would be the $5 gold piece. Chief Engraver Robert Scot, a man in his seventies and with failing eyesight, had prepared dies for the new $5 gold coin, and in July of 1795, production began.

The new gold coin featured a right-facing Liberty bust on the obverse. This Liberty bust was inspired by classical Greek goddess portraiture: Miss Liberty’s long locks flowed out and down in thick, graceful curls. On her head, she wore a large cap (often referred to as a “turban”). Her neckline extended down to the top of her bust, but unlike classical Greek portraiture, the bust was modestly draped. Miss Liberty’s tall hat bisects a grouping of stars (a design feature that proved to be problematic once new states entered the Union), and the word, “LIBERTY.” Below the Liberty bust is the date. On the reverse is a somewhat thin eagle (in early America it was often derided as a “chicken” or “buzzard”) perched on an olive branch and holding a laurel wreath in its beak.

The official mintage of 1795 Turban Head half-eagles is 8,707. But in truth, we don’t know exactly how many 1795 half-eagles were struck, since a portion of that number were struck in either late 1797 or in 1798! The same can be said for the 1796 and 1797 half-eagles! Why is that? Because there are the 1795 half-eagles with the “small eagle” reverse (those truly were struck in 1795), but there are also 1795 half-eagles with “large eagle” reverse– even though the “large eagle” reverse didn’t come into existence until 1798! Talk about Back To The Future!

The U.S. Mint operated under relatively primitive and chaotic conditions in the 1790's, made all the more so by the deadly Yellow Fever Epidemic that swept through the large city of Philadelphia every year. Throughout the 1790's, the U.S. Mint regularly shut down operations for a portion of the year, while mint workers (along with the a huge number of other Philadelphia residents) fled the city to wait out the epidemic in the country. Mint dies were hurriedly locked up, then, after mint operations resumed, they were taken out of storage again. Also, at that time, mint dies were not discarded until they COMPLETELY broke down. So if dies were still in useable condition, they were used– even if new dies might be in order!

Because of all these factors, it’s become clear to numismatic researchers, that though the new “large eagle” or “heraldic eagle” reverse design was created for the $5 gold coin in 1798, the obverse dies for the 1795-97 half-eagles still had some mileage on them. So, perhaps with the Yellow Fever bearing down on the city in 1798, the old dies were simply put into service, muled with the new reverse design, to crank out that year’s quota of gold half eagles! The result: 1795, 1796 and 1797 half eagles with both their proper small eagle reverse designs AND 1795, 1796, and 1797 half eagles with the reverse design created in 1798!

Which brings us to the second major type of Turban Head half-eagle: the “Large Eagle” or “Heraldic Eagle” reverse. This new reverse was used from 1798 through 1807. The new Heraldic Eagle reverse is identical to the Heraldic Eagle reverse used on the U.S. silver coins of 1798-1807. In fact, it’s the ONLY time a U.S. gold coin obverse or reverse design had been identical to a non-gold U.S. coin obverse or reverse design.

Collecting
When it comes to values, the small eagle Turban Head $5 gold coins of 1795-98 are clearly the winners. They were struck in VERY small numbers– so small, we actually don’t know officially how many small eagle 1795-98 $5 gold coins were struck in each year. Also consider the sad fact that even many of these already scarce coins were melted prior to 1834. All this adds up to the 1795-98 small eagle Turban Head $5 gold coins being quite rare. The most obtainable, however, would be the 1795 small eagles. It seems more of these were saved as souvenirs than were the 1796-98 small eagle $5 gold coins (by the way, yes, the terminology DOES get confusing when you’re talking about ‘small eagle half-eagles’)! The 1795 small eagle retails $11,500 in Fine, the 1796 retails $12,000 in Fine, the 1797 retails $14,000 in Fine, and the 1798 small eagle (of which only seven are known today) retails $90,000 in Fine!

Far more collectible are the ‘large eagle’ or ‘heraldic eagle’ Turban Head $5 gold coins of 1798-1807, but even these will put a major dent in your wallet. Most of these dates retail $3,000 in Fine, $4,300 in Extra Fine. The highest year of production was 1806, with 64,093 half-eagles struck that year.

Also be mindful of the many varieties in the Turban Head half-eagle series. Remember I mentioned that dies were constantly being re-cut, modified. That’s why from the years 1795-1807 we have muled obverse and reverse designs (which we’ve already mentioned), over-dates, 13 stars vs 14 stars, 15 stars vs 16 stars (you have to add a star when Tennessee becomes a state in 1796), small 8 vs. large 8, pointed 6 vs. round 6.

Mints

 * Philadelphia Mint (No mintmark)