1829 Capped Head Left Half Eagle
Large Diameter
The last date of the Large Planchet half eagles, this 1829 issue marks the end of not only the technology used in the First United States Mint, but the beginning of the end of that structure itself. On July 4, 1829, the cornerstone was laid for a much larger and grander facility at Chestnut and Juniper Streets in Philadelphia. Equipment was moved into the facility in the first weeks of 1833, and, according to Roger Burdette, "the structure was opened to serve the public and for tours on May 23, 1833." When this coin was struck within the cramped building at 7th and Filbert, a structure that had seen essentially the entire history of United States coinage unfold within its walls, the first United States Mint's days had grown few. The building was sold at auction in October 1835. It was ignominiously demolished in 1911.
The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part II Auction, where it realized $763,750.