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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Conder101, post: 7289984, member: 66&quot;]Official mintage was 17,796 a fairly low, but not the lowest, mintage for the type.&nbsp; Low survival is probably caused by two things.&nbsp; to a lesser extent the reduction in diameter that came in 1829, but to a much greater extent was the weight reduction that occurred in 1834 which made all the older coins now worth more for their gold content than their face value.&nbsp; After the weight reduction the gold value of the old half eagles was about $5.44.&nbsp; This in a time when that 44 cents represents a third to a half of a typical working mans daily wages meant that these coins rapidly found their way to the melting posts instead of being used. (in fact the coin originally in the mint collection was recovered from coins deposited at the mint for recoinage.)</p><p><br /></p><p>This melting has resulted in very low survival for all of the coins of this type, although the 1822 is a little extreme. The melting affect all the pre 1834 gold coins which is probably why most gold type sets begin with types of 1834 and later.&nbsp; The older types have such low survival and high prices that the vast majority of collectors can&#039;t afford them.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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