5 Dollars '1868 Half Eagle' Pattern, copper

The 1868 pattern half eagles were produced during a period of active experimentation at the Philadelphia Mint, when Mint Director Henry Linderman was pushing hard to modernize American coinage — both in design and alloy. Congress had not authorized a copper five-dollar piece, and none of these were ever intended for circulation. They exist as trial strikings, almost certainly produced for distribution to collectors and congressmen as part of the lobbying process surrounding proposed coinage legislation.

Judd-656 and Judd-657 differ in their die pairings. Surviving population figures across both varieties remain in the low dozens combined.