1797 $5 BD-3, Small Eagle, 16 Stars MS(PCGS#519865)

The June 2010 Baltimore Auction

Auctioneer

Bowers & Merena

Lot Number

3606

Grade

AU58

Price

138,000

Lot Description

1797 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Small Eagle. BD-3, HBCC-3047, Miller-19. Rarity-6. 16 Stars. AU-58 (NGC). This rare coin hails from one of the most chaotic eras in the history of the early United States. The mid-to-late 1790s and early 1800s saw Philadelphia ravaged by yearly yellow fever epidemics that turned the city into a ghost town for months at a time as people fled for fear of their lives. Among those operations interrupted by the yearly epidemic was coinage, as the Mint was forced to temporarily close its doors through lack of personnel. This not only interrupted production and made it difficult to strike large numbers of coins but, in the case of the Half Eagle series, led to the creation of some truly rare issues/die marriages. The rarity of these coins is most directly attributed to the Mint's use of whatever dies came readily to hand as it struggled to fill warrants received for Half Eagles in between the yearly epidemics.<br />     The 1797 Small Eagle is a very rare issue with probably fewer than 3,000 coins struck. Indicative of the chaos and irregularity that attended production of this issue, the Mint used no fewer than four die combinations (!) to coin this low-mintage issue. All are rare-to-unique, BD-3 as represented by the present example having an extant population of only 20-25 coins (per John W. Dannreuther, <em>Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties: A Study of Die States, 1795-1834</em>, 2006). The first example of the issue that we have handled in quite some time, this lovely example exhibits minimal rub and mostly small, wispy abrasions to define the grade. A couple of moderate-size distractions on Liberty's cheek are mentioned for pedigree purposes, but the most sizeable of these features appears to be an as-struck planchet flaw. Handsome olive-orange color throughout, with a generally bold strike that is also worthy of praise.