1880 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

1880 Liberty Head $5 half eagle gold coins were made at the Philadelphia, Carson City (CC), and San Francisco (S) mints. While Carson City’s production of the half eagle was characteristically miniscule in 1880, the mintages for the Philadelphia and San Francisco mints were higher than ever before for the $5 gold denomination. In fact, 1880 marks the first year for the denomination that mintages exceeded 1 million at any single mint, something both the Philadelphia and San Francisco mints managed to accomplish.

Here’s a breakdown of the mintages and values of 1880 $5 Liberty Head half eagle gold coins:

• 1880, 3,166,400; $691

• 1880-CC, 51,017; $1,250

• 1880-S, 1,348,900; $691

• 1880 proof, 36; $17,500

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

1880 half eagles are among the most common for the entire Liberty Head $5 gold coins series, and are frequently found at coin shows and in coin shops. Still, collectors and bullion investors alike will notice that the values of 1880 half eagles are substantially higher than the spot price for their intrinsic gold content, which amounts to 0.24187 ounces of pure gold per coin. This is due to the fact that 1880 half eagles, designed by Christian Gobrecht, are still considered relatively scarce and exist in much lower numbers than the mintages above may suggest. This is the case for all pre-1933 U.S. gold coins.