J1754 1885 Half Eagle Pattern - J-1754 1885 $5 Pattern PCGS PF65, R-8. This nearly unique Gem proof 1885 Half Eagle Pattern was struck in aluminum and is tied for the finest known at PCGS and NGC. Light rose-grey, somewhat lustrous devices are seen over darker grey fields creating an almost cameo-like effect. As expected for a proof coin, the strike is full on both sides of the coin. The surfaces are original with light hairlines that are visible only with magnification.

In addition to the ordinary coinage of 1885, all of the denominations were struck in aluminum from regular dies. Except for the three cent piece that had R.7+ rarity rating, all of the other off-metal pieces are R.8s. An R8 rating means that only two to three pieces are known.

Christian Gobrecht designed the Liberty Head or Coronet half eagle. The coin shows Liberty facing left in profile wearing a LIBERTY inscribed coronet with her hair tied in the back with beads. Two long curls hang down her neck, one in the back and the other on the side. She is surrounded with thirteen six-pointed stars. The date is below the truncation, which shows no drapery. The motif is taken from a Benjamin West painting of Venus. It was also used with modifications for the Large Cents of 1839.

The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with outstretched wing looking to the left. On its chest is the Union shield. In its talons it holds the olive branch and arrows. The error in the previous issue, Scots half eagle held the arrows and the olive branches in the wrong talons, is corrected. Except for the tips of the eagles wings UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the reverse, separated from the denomination FIVE D. by dots. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin, and the edge is reeded. Type 2 was created when the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to a banner designed by James B. Longacre above the eagle in 1866. The change was made in response to pressure organized by the Reverend M.R. Watkinson.

According to the records of the United States Treasury Department, the first request for the recognition of God on coinage was made in a letter from the Reverend Mark Richards Watkinson of Ridlelyville, Pennsylvania on November 13, 1861 to Salmon P. Chase, Treasury Secretary. You are about to submit your annual report to Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances, Watkinson said in the letter. One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form in our coins. This letter set off a series of events that caused an 1864 law to be passed allowing the In God We Trust motto to be placed on coins and the 1865 law that mandated it.

Christian Gobrecht became the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore. Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration.

This was an excellent job and Gobrecht was understandably reluctant to work for the Mint for less money than he was making at the engraving firm. In order to persuade him to leave, Mint Director Robert Patterson prevailed upon Chief Engraver William Kneass, who had had a stroke, to take less in salary so more money would be available to hire Gobrecht on a permanent basis. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Kneass. After Kneass stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif which was used for all denominations of sliver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and sliver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle.

Like all of the aluminum patterns of this year, the half eagle of 1885 is exceedingly rare. In its population report, PCGS shows the present piece in PF65 with 0 better. At NGC there is 1 in PF65 with 0 better. Considering the miniscule mintage, it is possible that both of these population numbers represent the same coin that someone tried to crossover in order to obtain a higher grade.