1798 Half Eagle

HBCC#:

3057

Breen#:

6430

BD#:

6

Judd#:

n/a

Pollock#:

n/a

This is an exceptional Mint-State example of this die marriage, identified by Walter Breen as his 4-F. He identified this as the third most common die marriage of all 1798 half eagles. Harry Bass, however, was only able to locate this single example, suggesting that it may be rarer than otherwise believed. As these words are written, the rarity of early half eagle varieties remains guesswork. Additional research is underway, which should eventually result in more accurate data.

Provenance:

Purchased from Lester Merkin's sale of March 1969, Lot 174.

Obverse:

Reverse:

Commentary:

"Obverse: Small 8, fat 1. 8 just overlies drapery. Serif of 1 overlies curl. New numeral 9. Crack edge - B - forehead curl - nose - lips - chin - star 13 - edge. Reverse: Small stars. Crack edge - to left of O - cloud - ribbon - base of right wing - field below."