1798 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Heraldic Eagle. BD-4. Rarity-4+. Large 8, 13-Star Reverse. MS-62 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ.

Offered is an impressive early half eagle that would do justice to an advanced gold type set or specialized variety collection. Subtle rose highlights adorn surfaces that are otherwise even olive-orange. A softly frosted texture adds further appeal, as does a strike that is quite sharp for the type despite a touch of softness in the centers and at the eagle's right talon. BD Die State c/d. Soon after coinage commenced in 1795, the half eagle became a popular larger denomination coin in everyday commercial use. Production was maintained at a fairly consistent rate beginning in 1797, despite the frequent yellow fever outbreaks for which Philadelphia was well known. During these outbreaks, coinage operations were interrupted often for months at a time, compelling Mint personnel to employ some novel die pairings using whatever was on hand in order to meet orders from bullion depositors. The die pairs employed in 1798 used reverses that have been the subject of study for decades. Both the obverse and reverse dies employed for the BD-4 combination suffered from clashing early in their service lives. The obverse die began to crack, while the reverse - used only for this pairing - suffered from cuds and cracking. While trying to maintain their usefulness as long as possible, both dies were lapped, but even this could not prevent them from failing completely not long after the present specimen was struck. Out of the reported mintage of 24,867 half eagles, between 5,000 and 7,000 coins were struck from this die pair before die failure, making this the most available of all the 1798 half eagle varieties. The BD-4 is far from common, however, in part due to the rampant speculation and meltings of the 1820s. Indeed, no more than 100 specimens likely survive for numismatists. A very small number of Uncirculated coins are known, none of which attain Gem status. This MS-62 example is an ideal choice for the numismatist seeking to assemble a first-class display of early type gold.

PCGS# 8078. NGC ID: 25NN.

PCGS Population (all die marriages of the Large 8, 13-Star Reverse variety): 14; 8 finer (MS-66 finest). CAC Stickered Population: 4; 3.

Estimate: $36000