The first year of a new portrait of Liberty, described in Overton as "made smaller with smaller face, jaw line better defined, cap is smaller with folds more pronounced with only one line on headband below LIBERTY, bust more fully developed." Overton described the modified reverse as including "many subtle changes in the eagle, including a fuller left wing, shield wider, claws and talons larger." Whereas the 1807 and 1808 half dollars, even in the best preservation, often show softness on Liberty's cheek and profile on the obverse and the eagle's head on the reverse, those are typically fairly well realized on the new design types of 1809. Other issues appear with the modified design elements, including frequent weakness left of the reverse shield, poorly defined peripheral obverse stars, and other localized anomalies. The re-engineering of the half dollar dies continued with further modifications in later years, ones most collectors would recognize even if reference books rarely mention them.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part II Auction, where it realized $70,500.