Heritage World Coin Auctions
FUN Signature US Coin Sale 1251 4-6 & 8-9 Jan 2017
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Early Half Eagles
1834 $5 With Motto, Crosslet 4, BD-2, R.5, MS62 NGC. Bass-Dannreuther Die State b/b. By 1821, changes in the price of gold verses silver on the world market made the intrinsic value of all U.S. gold coins greater than their face value. As a result, almost all U.S. gold coinage was hoarded, exported, or melted as soon as it was issued. To rectify the situation, Congress changed the specifications for gold coinage in 1834, reducing the gold content to make the face value equal the intrinsic value. To signify the change, the Classic Head design was instituted on the half eagle and quarter eagle, the only gold denominations struck in 1834.
Before these important changes took place, a nominal mintage of 50,141 Capped Head Left half eagles was produced with the old design and specifications. Four very scarce-to-rare die varieties of "old-tenor" 1834 half eagles are known to numismatists today, two with a Crosslet 4 in the date and two with a Plain 4. This coin represents the BD-2 variety, with a Crosslet 4 positioned about halfway under an incomplete curl on the bust. The BD-2 is the most available of the four die varieties, but still a very scarce issue. Possibly 45-55 examples of the BD-2 survive in all grades, and the variety probably accounted for 20,000-25,000 pieces of the reported mintage. This was the only use of the obverse die, but the reverse was used again to strike the very rare BD-3 variety of this date.
The present coin is an attractive MS62 example with well-detailed design elements that show just a touch of softness on the peripheral devices. A die crack passes through stars 9-13 on the obverse and another shows through the letters in MERICA and 5D on the reverse. The lustrous orange-gold surfaces show the minimum number of minor contact marks for the grade. We expect intense competition from type collectors and series enthusiasts when this lot is called. Census (for Crosslet 4): 1 in 62, 3 finer (10/16).
From The Hutchinson Collection.
1834 $5 With Motto, Crosslet 4, BD-2, R.5, MS62 NGC. Bass-Dannreuther Die State b/b. By 1821, changes in the price of gold verses silver on the world market made the intrinsic value of all U.S. gold coins greater than their face value. As a result, almost all U.S. gold coinage was hoarded, exported, or melted as soon as it was issued. To rectify the situation, Congress changed the specifications for gold coinage in 1834, reducing the gold content to make the face value equal the intrinsic value. To signify the change, the Classic Head design was instituted on the half eagle and quarter eagle, the only gold denominations struck in 1834.
Before these important changes took place, a nominal mintage of 50,141 Capped Head Left half eagles was produced with the old design and specifications. Four very scarce-to-rare die varieties of "old-tenor" 1834 half eagles are known to numismatists today, two with a Crosslet 4 in the date and two with a Plain 4. This coin represents the BD-2 variety, with a Crosslet 4 positioned about halfway under an incomplete curl on the bust. The BD-2 is the most available of the four die varieties, but still a very scarce issue. Possibly 45-55 examples of the BD-2 survive in all grades, and the variety probably accounted for 20,000-25,000 pieces of the reported mintage. This was the only use of the obverse die, but the reverse was used again to strike the very rare BD-3 variety of this date.
The present coin is an attractive MS62 example with well-detailed design elements that show just a touch of softness on the peripheral devices. A die crack passes through stars 9-13 on the obverse and another shows through the letters in MERICA and 5D on the reverse. The lustrous orange-gold surfaces show the minimum number of minor contact marks for the grade. We expect intense competition from type collectors and series enthusiasts when this lot is called. Census (for Crosslet 4): 1 in 62, 3 finer (10/16).
From The Hutchinson Collection.