1803 Capped Bust Right Eagle. BD-6, Taraszka-32. Rarity-7. Large Reverse Stars. AU-58 Details--Tooled, Cleaned (ANACS). OH.
One of several highly significant early eagles in this sale, the present lot features a particularly vivid 1803 BD-6 rarity. Otherwise deep orange-gold surfaces exhibit vivid reddish-rose overtones toward the borders. Both sides are bright with wispy hairlines that point to a cleaning, the right obverse field having been worked on to explain the Tooled qualifier from ANACS. Well struck overall with most features sharp, mentionable softness is confined to stars 1 and 11 on the obverse and the uppermost clouds and adjacent stars on the reverse, with adjustment marks (as made) evident in the latter area. BD Die State g/c. BD-6 vies with BD-2 as the rarest 1803 eagle die marriage. The desirability of this variety is enhanced by a number of other factors. First, this is a backdated variety. The progression of reverse die states confirms that the 1803 BD-6 eagle was struck after the 1804 BD-1 variety. As such, the mintage for the 1803 BD-6 die pairing is almost certainly included in the Mint's delivery of 3,757 eagles from December 28 to 31, 1804. Second, the fact that this variety was struck after the 1804 BD-1 confirms it as the final eagle struck for circulation before President Thomas Jefferson suspended production of this denomination on December 31, 1804. Finally, this is the only early eagle die variety that Harry W. Bass, Jr. was never able to acquire for his collection. Although two early eagle varieties are missing from the Harry Bass Core Collection, an example of the 1803 BD-4 was originally part of the collection but was sold in error. We have been able to positively confirm the existence of only eight 1803 BD-6 eagles, all but four of which are included in the list of "Significant Specimens" for the variety in the Taraszka early eagle reference. We have updated the provenances and added to the author's census to account for later auction appearances, as follows: 1 - PCGS MS-61. Ex our (Bowers and Merena's) Harry Einstein Collection sale, June 1986, lot 444; Heritage's Portland ANA Auction of August 1998, lot 7744; Anthony J. Taraszka; our sale of the Anthony J. Taraszka Collection, August 2019 ANA Auction, lot 4040. 2 - NGC MS-62. Ex our (Stack's) sale of September 1977, lot 1531; Heritage's Summer FUN Signature Coin Auction of June 2008, lot 2106; our Baltimore Auction of November 2021, lot 4127. 3 - NGC AU-53. Ex our Chicago ANA Sale of August 2014, lot 13240; Heritage's sale of the Poulos Family Collection, Part II, September 2019 Long Beach Signature Auction, lot 4961; Harvey B. Jacobson, Jr.; our sale of the Harvey B. Jacobson, Jr. Collection, Winter 2022 Auction, November, lot 4031. 4 - NGC AU-53. Ex Superior's sale of the Miguel Munoz Collection, Part III, June 1981, lot 362; Heritage's FUN Auction of January 2009, lot 4112; Heritage's Fort Worth ANA Signature Auction of March 2010, lot 2400; Heritage's Summer FUN Signature Auction of July 2010, lot 4718; our sale of the Dr. James A. Ferrendelli Collection, August 2014 ANA, lot 11116; our Rarities Sale, February 2016, lot 224; Heritage's sale of the Long Island Collection, August 2021 ANA Signature Auction, lot 3447. 5 - AU-55. Ex Superior's session of Auction '84, July 1984, lot 410; our (Bowers and Merena's) Estates of Philip M. Mann, Jr. and Glenn B. Smedley sale, September 1988, lot 538. 6 - ANACS AU-58 Details--Tooled, Cleaned. Ex Harvey B. Jacobson, Jr. Collection. The present example . 7 - PCGS EF-45. Ex Heritage's sale of the R.M. Phillips Limited Partnership Collection, August 2009, lot 1297. 8 - NGC VG Details--Mount Removed. Ex Heritage's Charlotte ANA National Money Signature Sale of 2003, lot 6347; our Philadelphia Americana Sale of September 2011, lot 5967. Our offering of the Jacobson Collection specimen in this sale presents the advanced early gold variety specialist with an opportunity to do something that Harry W. Bass, Jr. was never able to do - acquire an example of the rare and historic 1803 BD-6 eagle. Interested parties are urged to bid strongly and expect intense competition for the honor of securing this important coin.
PCGS# 45740.
From the Harvey B. Jacobson Jr. Collection.

Estimate: $12000