The eagle and half eagle of the new coinage will be less in diameter than those of the former emissions, and that in a greater proportion than the diminution of weight would indicate.” — Mint Director Samuel Moore to Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury, August 1, 1834 </em>Peripheral toning of sunset orange surrounds rich yellow gold centers on both sides, highlighted with traces of deep violet and blue near the reverse rim and frosty pale green across the obverse device. The cartwheel luster is brisk, the fields are somewhat reflective, and the aesthetic appeal pushes the typical boundaries of this grade. Light hairlines are present, though none too serious; a light diagonal scratch under the eagle’s beak and a tiny nick on the rim under 4 of the date are the only other noteworthy defects. The braided curls above Liberty’s eye and the curl that dangles left of her ear show some typical softness, but other design elements are sharp from center to rim. The dies have clashed, visible on the reverse behind the eagle’s neck and within the shield, where much of LIBERTY is plain in retrograde among the pales. Lapping has hollowed some of the internal details below the eagle.The first New Tenor half eagles were struck the morning of Friday, August 1, 1834, after a legislative process that had taken years. Correcting the imbalance between the value of gold and silver had been under discussion for nearly a decade, but the ratio was finally corrected in the summer of 1834. The House of Representatives passed <em>A Bill Concerning the Gold Coins of the United States</em>, <em>and For Other Purposes</em> on June 21, 1834, by a vote of 136-46. John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts voted for it; Millard Fillmore of New York voted against it. The concurrence of the Senate was requested. Once received, the bill was sent off to President Andrew Jackson for a signature, which was affixed a week later, making the bill the Act of June 28, 1834. The law mandated that half eagles would weigh 129 grains of standard .900 fine gold, a reduction of 6 grains. The act also stipulated that deposits would be paid out to the depositor within five days, and 1/2% would be deducted for expenses. The new law was to take effect on July 31, 1834. The Mint promptly struck the first gold coins to the new standard the following morning.Mint Director Samuel Moore explained that the new issues would be discernible from the old ones two ways: “one the face, the new coins will be readily distinguished by a head of liberty, disencumbered of a cap. On the reverse, the surplus motto ‘E Pluribus Unum,’ which for many years has occupied a portion of the disk above the eagle, is now omitted.” The Classic Head coins have been known by the alternate name of “No Motto” coinage ever since. <em>The Watchman</em> of Salisbury, North Carolina referred to the design in the August 23, 1834 issue as “the new half eagle of the Jackson coinage, devoid of the Liberty cap and without Latin lingo upon it.”While the exact proportion of 1834 Classic Head half eagles struck with the Crosslet 4 date style is unknown, the population is far smaller than that of the Plain 4 date style. Akers noted that the Crosslet 4 “has appeared at auction less often than any other date of this type including 1838-C” and suggested it is “actually just as rare as many of the more well known dates of the previous two types,” the Capped Head, Large Planchet and the Capped Head, Small Planchet. PCGS has certified more than 10 times as many Plain 4 half eagles of 1834 than Crosslet 4 half eagles of this date, assigning a Mint State grade on only eight occasions. This unusually fine specimen is the single finest 1834 Crosslet 4 half eagle certified by PCGS, the only one ever graded better than MS-62.PCGS# 8172. NGC ID: 25RP.
