Significant Mint State 1795 Eagle
Scarce BD-4 Variety The William Forrester Dunham Specimen
1795 Capped Bust Right Eagle. BD-4, Taraszka-4. Rarity-5. 13 Leaves. MS-61 (PCGS). CMQ.
A truly memorable example of this historic issue, and one of the most important that we have brought to auction in recent decades. Lovely satin surfaces are modestly semi-prooflike in the fields. Exceptionally well produced by early eagle standards, both sides exhibit bold to sharp striking detail that even extends to most of the central design elements. Only for a few of the hair strands behind Liberty's ear and the eagle's head, breast and legs do we note minor lack of detail. Nicely composed for the grade with superior eye appeal. As the first eagle struck in the United States Mint, the popularity of the 1795 with collectors knows no bounds. The Act of April 2, 1792, which established our nation's monetary system, named the ten-dollar gold eagle as the highest denomination. As specified in that Act, the weight of these early eagles is 17.50 grams (270.0 grains) standard and 247-4/8 grains pure (i.e., unalloyed metal). These specifications made the first eagles 11/12 fine, with 11 parts pure gold to one part alloy, the latter mixed with the precious metal to improve the coin's wearing qualities when used in commerce. The design of the Capped Bust Right eagle is credited to Robert Scot, first chief engraver of the United States Mint. Initially the $10 gold eagle featured a small eagle with outstretched wings perched on a branch on the reverse, although this was replaced in 1797 by a heraldic eagle motif. Small Eagle Capped Bust Right tens were produced for only two years, from September 1795 to June 1797, although three dates are represented (1795, 1796, 1797). BD-4 is the third scarcest of the five die marriages known for the 1795 eagle, its elusiveness resulting from the early demise of the obverse die due to an as yet undiscovered injury. Interestingly, the finest known 1795 eagle of any variety was coined from these dies: the fabulous Garrett-Pogue specimen in PCGS MS-66+ that we sold for $2,585,000 in our September 2015 Pogue II sale. Mint State examples of all early eagles are eagerly sought, and this one is particularly desirable as having once been part of the famous collection of William Forrester Dunham. When auctioned by renowned Fort Worth dealer B. Max Mehl in 1941, this 1795 eagle was offered as lot 2196. Dunham clearly enjoyed owning this coin, his pride great enough that he stamped a tiny D into the eagle's breast on the reverse. Though numerous writers have attributed the D to James V. Dexter, the identical mark is found on Hard Times tokens known to have been owned by Dunham and, most famously, Dunham's Class I 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar in PCGS Proof-65 that realized $3,290,000 in our April 2017 sale of Part V of the D. Brent Pogue Collection. Although that coin is generally known as the Dexter Specimen (hence the confusion regarding the initial), it is Dunham's D that is present on cloud 7 on this 1804 dollar. We have also handled one other Capped Bust Right eagle that Dunham marked with his initial D within the last (rightmost) cloud on the reverse: -1797 Heraldic Eagle. BD-3 . Ex B. Max Mehl's sale of the William Forrester Dunham Collection, June 1941, lot 2199; unknown intermediaries; our (Stack's, in conjunction with Sotheby's) sale of the Dallas Bank Collection, October 2001, lot 379; our (American Numismatic Rarities') Classics Sale of July 2003, lot 735; our sale of the Brandywine Collection, November 2011 Baltimore Auction, lot 9662. The coin was certified AU-55 by PCGS in its two most recent appearances. A highlight of the extensive classic gold offerings in this sale, this 1795 BD-4 eagle will surely be an object of great desirability and see much spirited competition between advanced type collectors and early gold variety enthusiasts.
PCGS# 8551. NGC ID: 25ZU.
Purchased by our consignor's family from Stack's in the 1980s. Earlier from B. Max Mehl's sale of the William Forrester Dunham Collection, June 1941, lot 2196.