1805 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. BD-5. Rarity-7. Imperfect 1, Wide Date. AU-58 (PCGS). CAC.
The obverse has reflective light honey-gold luster with thin parallel scratches through the left field, these no doubt preventing PCGS from assigning a higher grade. The reverse is more frosty in finish, and both sides are most attractive overall. This is an extremely rare variety and, in fact, this is the only example that we can recall publicly offering for sale. BD Die State b/e. Of the five die marriages confirmed for the 1805-dated half eagle issue, BD-5 is second in rarity only to BD-4. John W. Dannreuther (2006) accounts for just six to eight survivors from an estimated mintage of 750 to 1,250 coins for the former pairing. It represents the final of four uses of this reverse die for the 1805-dated issue, which also appears in the 1806 BD-1 attribution. The extreme rarity of the 1805 BD-5 is due to the early failure of the obverse die, evidence for which is clearly seen here in the form of a peripheral crack that extends from the bases of the digits 18 in the date, around to the viewer's left, to the tops of the letters LIBE in LIBERTY. A second, lighter crack joins the tops of the letters RTY and stars 9 to 12. Both examples owned by Harry Bass were in this die state.
PCGS# 8088. NGC ID: 25P4.
Ex Quality Sales Corporation's sale of the John A. Beck Collection, Part I, January 1975, lot 355; Harry W. Bass, Jr.; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, Part II, October 1999, lot 763.