Can somone "esplain" Ricardo to Lucy, like,1819 Half Eagle

DUIGUY

What is up with the 1819 Half Eagle? 51,723 minted but very seldom seen. Melted? Slave trade? What?

Thanks for any insight in advance.

CaptHenway

The vast majority of pre-1834 U.S. gold was melted down, because after 1834 it was worth more as gold than as money. The 1819 is scarce, but look at the 1822.
TD

DaveG

In general, pre-1834 ("old tenor") US gold coins were overvalued in terms of silver during the time they were minted, so they rarely circulated in the US.

Most of them were exported shortly after they were minted and subsequently melted.

Also, substantial numbers of them were melted at the Mints following the reduction in the gold value of the dollar in 1834. For example, almost $1.1 million of old tenor gold coins were melted at the Philadelphia Mint in 1834 alone - another $500,000 worth were melted from 1835-1861. Another $40,000 worth were melted at New Orleans.

firstmint

You can forget mintage figures on the fat head classic half eagles. Most were melted in Europe in the 1830s.

Read the Dannreuther/Bass book or the Garrett/ Guth book on U.S. Gold Coins.