1795 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Small Eagle. BD-6. Rarity-5. S/D in STATES. AU-50 (PCGS). OGH.

1795 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Small Eagle. BD-6. Rarity-5. S/D in STATES. AU-50 (PCGS). OGH.，This is a lovely example of the type, issue and variety that is sure to have no difficulty finding its way into an advanced gold cabinet. Both sides exhibit rich deep orange patina to surfaces that retain ample evidence of a satin to modestly semi-reflective finish. The strike is well executed within uniformly denticulated borders, the devices boldly to sharply defined over virtually all design elements. Were it not for a touch of glossiness to the texture and faint pale silver overtones, in fact, this nearly Uncirculated example may have secured a Choice AU rating from PCGS. In any event, the old style holder suggests that this endearing coin is conservatively graded by todays standards. Worthy of a solid bid. BD Die State b/c.<p>The Mints use of 12 die combinations to strike 1795 Small Eagle five-dollar gold pieces is testament not only to the fledgling coinage facilitys difficulty in producing coinage for the new nation, but also the popularity of the half eagle with contemporary gold bullion depositors. Indeed, more half eagles were struck during the earliest years of U.S. Mint operations than eagles, and yearly mintages for the former denomination dwarfed those of the quarter eagle during the same era. Such is the prevalence of the 1795 Small Eagle five compared to the 1796, in fact, that many examples of the former issue are believed to have been included in the mintage of 6,196 half eagles reported for calendar year 1796. According to John W. Dannreuther (2006), in fact, the actual mintage for the 1795 Small Eagle issue may be as high as 12,106 pieces (as opposed to the 8,707-piece mintage reported for calendar year 1795).Bass-Dannreuther 6, offered here, is one of the scarcer and more intriguing varieties of the 1795 Small Eagle five. Dannreuther estimates that only 60 to 80 examples are extant from an estimated delivery of 1,000 to 1,500 coins from this die pairing. The obverse (in its only known use in the early half eagle series) cracked early, thereby explaining the limited press run for this variety and the consequent scarcity of survivors. The present example represents the near-terminal state of the obverse with a crack from the upper border to the letter I in LIBERTY but without the crack through Libertys bust that identifies BD Die State c. In addition to its scarcity, BD-6 is desirable as one of only two varieties struck from the blundered S/D in STATES reverse die. It is more readily obtainable than the other variety that employs this reverse, BD-5, and examples are always in demand among early gold variety enthusiasts.，From Heritages ANA Sale of August 1997, lot 7589; Heritages sale of the Hutchinson Collection, Part II, April 2017, lot 4222.，