Classic Head 1834-1838: In 1834, the renowned sculptor, William Kneass changed the liberty design. The coins obverse no longer had a cap on the head. On the backside the scroll was taken off. In addition, the weight of the half eagle was reduced from 8.75 to 8.36, thus lowering the bullion value below its face value. There was a massive mintage of coins at this time.

Liberty Head (No Motto Above Eagle) 1839-1866: The Liberty Head was designed by Christian Gobrecht, who revised the head of the liberty, putting her hair in a bun and braiding the hair. The reverse remained fairly the same.

Liberty Head (Motto Above Eagle) 1866-1908: In 1866, the half eagle was imprinted with the title IN GOD WE TRUST on the scroll above the eagle. The motto returned after the civil war when there was a new spark of spirituality in America.

Indian Head 1908-1929: Bela Lyon Pratt designed the Indian Head coin in 1908. On the front of the coin, an Indian chief stands tall in a ceremonial headdress with the words LIBERTY written above and is surrounded by thirteen stars. The reverse features and American eagle posed on top of an olive branch engulfed in arrows with wings at its side. The phrase United States of America heads the coins on the top with the ever-famous IN GOD WE TRUST below and to the right. The Indian Head was original in its time because it was the first coin to have a recessed design.