1806 $5 Knobbed 6 (1806 $5) NGC AU Details. Here is an early 1806 Half Eagle that was probably worn as jewelry. There is a plug above obverse star 7 and the N in UNITED on the reverse. Despite its details description, the coin is an attractive representation of the type. There is sufficient separation in the strands of Libertys hair and the folds of her cap and drapery to warrant a grade of AU. The strike is adequate enough to clearly see all of the design features; and some original color and luster remains in protected areas. Vertical adjustment marks are present on the obverse to add interest to the piece.

The early half eagle coins have no denomination because gold was valued by its weight and fineness as was the European coinage of the time. As seen on contemporary Large Cents, dentils are at the edge of both the obverse and reverse of these coins.

The obverse design shows Liberty facing right. Below her is the date which is off center to the left. Between the date and the word LIBERTY on the left side of the coin are seven stars. Another six stars follow LIBERTY down to the bust. Liberty wears a large, soft cap. Her hair flows down and also shows on her forehead. The design was probably taken from a Roman engraving of a Greek goddess. Libertys cap was certainly not a Phrygian or liberty cap. The liberty cap, emblematic of freedom, was worn by freed slaves and freed gladiators in Roman times. It was a close fitting cap used to cover a shorn head, which was one of the way slaves were identified. The oversized cap worn by Liberty has been called a turban, and the design has been called the Turban Head because of it.

The new reverse, issued in 1798, shows a heraldic eagle. However, Scott mixed up the positions of the arrows and olive branch. The arrows held in the wrong claw signify defiant militarism. Either Scott made an error copying the image of the Great Seal, or he deliberately changed the symbolism, perhaps as a warning to France with whom the United States had been engaged in an undeclared naval war. In the field above the eagle are thirteen stars and above them, six clouds. A banner from wing to wing has the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.