Even with the invention of Photography in 1839, the art world was still heavily trenched in Neoclassicism. At a time when modern fashions in clothing and hair was changing ever rapidly, the typical Neoclassical sculptor or die engraver understood that depicting historically important figures in contemporary clothing could created a lot of criticism. Therefore most artists choose to have their piece wear classical greek clothing often copying the stylized busts of know works from ancient sculptors and later roman imitations. The stylistic look of Neoclassicism favored cold and stiff profiles, which is ideal for the art of die engraving.

Mint engraver Christian Gobrecht was strongly influenced by the Neoclassic style. This style is most obviously seen in his classically stylized head of Liberty on the Coronet half eagle that replaced the Classic Head design in 1839. The obverse design of the new coin has a Greco-Roman profile of Liberty with her hair up in a bun and a string of pearls wrapped around. In her hair she is wearing a coronet, or small crown, that is inscribed with the word LIBERTY. It is an aesthetically pleasing design that has the date below the bust and thirteen stars around the perimeter of the coin. It was not until 1908 that the simple design on the obverse of the half eagle was replaced by Bela Lyon Pratt's Indian Head. The reverse of the Half Eagle was hardly altered from the spread eagle motif that had been utilized since 1807. The only change that Gobrecht made was the eagle's wingspan, which was widened to cover the new coin from rim to rim.

Gobrecht's Coronet half eagle continued the Mint's tradition of uniformity in all U.S. coin designs. This penchant for similarity existed since the beginning of the Mint's existence and remained steadfast until non-mint designs were created early in the 20th century. The Coronet half eagle shared its design with the eagle that was released in 1838 and the quarter eagle from 1840. This variety is referred to by many numismatists as the No Motto half eagle. This version was struck at five different mints; Philadelphia (no mintmark), Charlotte (C), Dahlonega (D), New Orleans (O), and San Francisco (S). Mintmarks are found on the reverse below the eagle and above the word FIVE in all years except the initial year of issuance, 1839. In this first year the C and D mintmarks were placed above the date on the obverse, making this year a popular and rare year for collectors. Over the 28 years that these coins were struck, a total of 9,114,049 pieces were produced from all five mints.

Through out the first few years of production there were minor design changes implemented. In 1839 the head to Liberty was modified slightly, and the diameter of the coin decreased in 1840. Also, lettering and dates were enlarged in 1842 and 1843. These minor changes provide variety for the typical date and mintmark collector. However, due to engraver James Longacre's weakness as a die sinker, there are a lot of miss-punched dates and overdates within a series that are great for any numismatic interest. The true rarities in this series are especially the branch mint issues from Dahlonega and Charlotte. Some of these rarities include the 1842-D Large Date, 1842-C Small Date and 1861-C. There are no rarities among the New Orleans issues except for the epic 1841-O, which, even though mint records indicate 50 pieces were struck, it is a coin that is unknown to exist in any collections today. It is assumed that all 1841-O's were melted after coining. The most rare regular production No Motto half eagle is the San Francisco mint, 1854-S. Only 268 half eagles were struck in the first year of operation for the San Francisco Mint, with only three of these piece known to exist today.

The most commonly encountered half eagles from this period are the Philadelphia issues, with AU and mint state coins readily available. The rarest Philadelphia mint is the half eagle that was struck during the Civil War, when mintage's were low and hoarding was common practice.

There are many No Motto half eagles that are still collected today by date and mintmark, which is unlike many other 19th century series, but the best of most collections only have EF and AU coins. Overall, higher grade examples are typically not available and, if found, they are extremely expensive. Specialization in a particular mint is another common collecting pattern. There are several complete collections of Charlotte and Dahlonega half eagles that have been created over the years. Many type collectors had a No Motto series through one coin from each of the five mints that issues them, or also through having one example (typically from Philadelphia) to represent the entire 28-year type. Philadelphia was the only mint to strike proofs, and all are extremely rare with only about 25 to 80 pieces thought to exist of the yearly mintage's after 1858.

Overall it is quite easy to grade well struck examples of No Motto fives. Worn spots are typically found on the highest areas of the design elements, such as Liberty's hair curls and above the eye on the obverse as well as on the eagle's wings on the reverse. It is noted that incompletely struck coins from this period are typical and not an exception. It can be expected that there is a softness of strike on the hair curls of Liberty as well as on the eagle's left facing leg on all branch mint coins and some Philadelphia issues. Certain branch mint issues, in particular those from the mid-1850's, can have full mint sharpness but with a dull surface. These are called "seawater Uncs." and there were supposedly salvaged in 1970 off a sunken Confederate transport ship. Counterfeits are often seen in the series but are generally not regarded as a problem.

No Motto half eagles were minted until 1866, upon which they were replaced by the coins with the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on the reverse. Overall, half eagle coins struck after 1866 are easier to locate in AU and Uncirculated condition, while the No Motto issues and the Southern gold issues from Charlotte and Dahlonega are limited to just the No Motto series. No motto half eagles remained in circulation for generations, and it was not until the turn of the century and the beginning of numismatic interests in mintmark collecting, that they were recognized as a series with numerous valuable rarities and very few high grade survivors.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Akers, David W., United States Gold Coins, Volume IV, Half Eagles 1795-1929, Paramount Publications, Englewood, OH, 1979. Breen, Walter, Varieties of United States Half Eagles 1839-1929, Hewitt Brothers, Chicago. Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Vermeule, Cornelius, Numismatic Art in America, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1971. Winter, Douglas, Gold Coins of the Charlotte Mint 1838-1861, DWN Publishing, Dallas, 1998. Winter, Douglas, Gold Coins of the Dahlonega Mint 1838-1861, DWN Publishing, Dallas, 1997. Winter, Douglas, New Orleans Mint Gold Coins 1839-1909, Bowers & Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1992.