1813 $5 (1813 Half Eagle) NGC MS63. This outstanding Capped Head 1813 Half Eagle has smoldering mint luster within the devices. Not a trace of wear is seen, as expected for the mint state grade, which could even have been a point or two higher. For the grade, the surfaces are clean and free of distractions. The strike is amazingly sharp. We see full details on the centers of the stars, Libertys hair, and the eagles feathers.

John Reich designed the Capped Head half eagle of 1813 to 1834. Reich was responsible for the 1813 to 1815 issues. He left the Mint in March of 1817, after ten years of service without a raise. The obverse shows Liberty in profile facing left wearing a LIBERTY inscribed cap that was intended to represent a Phrygian cap. She is surrounded by thirteen stars with the date below the truncation. The reverse shows the heraldic eagle with wings raised up. Between them, on a banner, is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. The required inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the coin, interrupted by the wing tips, and the denomination written as 5 D. is below.

Reich corrected the error made by Robert Scot in the design of the earlier half eagle (as well as his other heraldic eagle motifs). Scot had placed the arrows in the eagles right or dexter claw and put the olive branch in the left or sinister claw. This reversal of the positions of these two items is an inaccurate modification of the Great Seal of the United States. Arrows in the right claw symbolize extreme militarism, which may have been a message to France and other European powers concerning the sovereignty of the United States. On the Capped Bust half eagle, the olive branch is in the right claw and the arrows are in the left.

Johann Reich, a skilled engraver, was born it Bavaria and came to the United States around 1800. In order to finance his passage, he sold himself into servitude.

President Thomas Jefferson recommended that Reich be hired as an engraver at the Mint in 1801. While serving in Washingtons Cabinet, Jefferson had been in charge of the Mint as Secretary of State. While in France, Jefferson developed good judgment and a working knowledge of the minting process. Reich was hired for other duties, but he eventually became an engraver at the Mint. He had a superb eye for the complicated aesthetics of coin engraving. At this time his freedom was purchased by an unknown mint official. Although Chief Engraver Robert Scot designed most of the coins at the mint since 1794, it was said that Reich had much more talent and ability than Scot.

In 1807, Reich was promoted to the position of Assistant or Second Engraver by Robert Patterson, the new Mint Director. Jefferson had urged Patterson to make this promotion because Scots eyesight was failing him. The promotion was timely because Reich was considering returning to Europe out of boredom with the menial tasks he had been assigned. Immediately Patterson assigned Reich the task of redesigning the nations coinage. He began with the half eagle and the half dollar, the two most important coins for commerce.

The design for the Capped Bust half dollar uses a buxom Liberty wearing a LIBERTY inscribed cloth cap, which gave the coin a distinctly European look. The heraldic eagle reverse symbolizes the Union with the arrows and olive branch in its talons. Reich created a signature device of a small notch on the outside of star 13. The design for the gold coin was similar but modified slightly to accommodate its smaller size. In 1807 both coins were released.

Reich made a similar design for the quarter eagle that was issued the next year. He also designed a new cent, a dime and a half cent in 1809, and a quarter in 1815 all of which used the capped bust motif.

Reich put the denomination of the gold and silver coins. This innovation had not been done previously because coins, especially in Europe, were valued for their metallic content and weight. By 1815 Reich had created a set of circulating coins with the common capped liberty obverse. In 1813 Reich modified the half eagle to become what is called the Capped Head design. Some contemporary critic called the bust of Liberty Reichs fat German mistress.

After working for ten years as Assistant Engraver at the mint, Reich resigned in 1817. He had received no pay raise or promotion and little praise from Robert Scot. Scot remained the Chief Engraver until his death in 1823.