1795 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Small Eagle. BD-8. Rarity-5+. AU-55 (PCGS).

A pretty example with impressively original surfaces. Both sides exhibit dominant honey-olive color with wisps of pale rose-russet here and there around the peripheries. The strike is sharp by early U.S. Mint standards with universally bold detail throughout the design. Traces of satiny mint luster remain to surfaces that show no significant blemishes from what must certainly have been a very short stint in active commerce. With superior technical quality and strong eye appeal, there is much to recommend this coin to advanced gold type collectors and early half eagle variety enthusiasts. BD Die State a/a. One of 8,707 to 12,106 examples struck of the premier half eagle issue at the Philadelphia Mint. Though the Guide Book offers but one listing for the 1795 Small Eagle, the Bass-Dannreuther reference lists a dozen die varieties. Great demand is placed on this issue by type collectors who enjoy first-of-kind dates as well as by early half eagle specialists, especially in lustrous, problem-free preservation. The BD reference notes that as few as 30 to 40 examples of the BD-8 pairing may have survived, certainly worth noting by the advanced die variety collectors among our bidders. The obverse die was used in additional 1795 die marriages, including the unique BD-13 variety with the Heraldic Eagle reverse in the National Numismatic Collection in the Smithsonian Institution. The reverse die was used to coin one of the great rarities of the series, the 1798 Small Eagle Reverse variety, struck later than this initial appearance of the reverse die.

PCGS# 8066. NGC ID: 25ND.

From the Andrew M. Hain Collection.

Estimate: $ 50000