The Capped Head Left half eagle of 1813 to 1834 is one of the rarest types in U.S. numismatics. This may come as a surprise to readers who focus solely on the yearly mintages for this series, which are actually respectable by early U.S. Mint standards and, in some case at least, higher than those of the preceding Capped Bust Right and Left types. The rarity of this type is due to the wholesale destruction through melting of thousands of old tenor gold coins after the Act of June 28, 1834 reduced the weight of the half eagle from 8.75 grams to 8.36 grams. In the case of the Capped Head Left series virtually the entire mintage of many issues went to the melting pot, leaving precious few survivors for today's numismatists.

The 1823, of which 14,485 to 20,000 examples were produced from a single die marriage, has an extant population of just 80 to 100 pieces (per John W. Dannreuther, 2006). Such is the rarity of this type, however, that this estimated population actually defines the 1823 as one of the more available Capped Head Left half eagles in today's market.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part IV Auction, where it realized $96,937.50.