In Borglum's designs the letter A is almost always of a specific type where the horizontal bar is in the lower third of the letter.

The design also had only three A's and there is just a little variation in their design.  The A in STATES and the first A in AMERICA appear to be of the same design.  But on the last A in AMERICA the horizontal bar is slightly higher in the letter closing down the triangle formed by the sides and horizontal bar.

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At first we thought this was to distinguish capital A from little A.  But this is not correct because the two most similar are in position to contradict that assumption.

But when the final design was approved after all the arguments with Borglum, there were some interesting changes.

• First, the words FIFTY CENTS was changed to HALF DOLLAR, effectively adding two more A's.
• Second, the form of the letters changed from two to four different varieties and the changes were pronounced enough as to be obvious to the eye with no magnification once you realize the difference.

To our knowledge no image of Borglum's final working model has surfaced, so we only have the coin as struck as guidance.  The changes could have been made by Borglum, a Mint worker, the Medallic Art  Company, or the U. S. Commission of Fine Arts.

In the word AMERICA the A's appear to be unaltered and although different from the other A's, they were the same as Borglum's model.