1803/2 $5 MS(PCGS#8084)

1803/2 $5 MS (PCGS#8084)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Losbeschreibung: BD Die State a/b. A warmly patinated honey-olive example with tinges of pale pinkish-rose evident as the surfaces rotate under a light, especially at the borders. Otherwise sharply struck, the reverse is soft at the arrow cluster due to being in opposition to the top of Liberty's cap.<p>As with the previous year, both obverse dies employed to produce the 1803-dated half eagles all bear an overdate. The obverse die used on the BD-1 pairing is readily discernible by the broken/missing right serif on the foot of the T in LIBERTY matched with a reverse used in the BD-7 pair from the previous year. All told, four combinations of dies have been recorded, producing a total of approximately 32,506 pieces, with the BD-1 pair the most available of the four (edging out the BD-3 and BD-4 by a slim margin). Even so, there are only an estimated 150 to 200 coins believed extant in any degree of preservation; such is the state of early gold that even with so comparatively few survivors this is considered a common variety. Long popular among advanced type collectors as well as early half eagle specialists, this pleasing Choice EF example is not to be overlooked.