Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle - Gobrecht’s Inspiration
Mint engraver Christian Gobrecht created the Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle, which ran from 1839 to 1908. Gobrecht was a true disciple of the Neoclassicism art form. The reason for his ardent belief? Modern clothing fashions changed too often, and it would open up a wave of criticism to portray historically important figures wearing contemporary clothes. Like most renowned engravers, Gobrecht fixed his subjects in Classical Greco-Roman clothing and copied the stylized busts of known works by those ancient sculptors.
