Heritage World Coin Auctions
CSNS Signature US Coin Sale 1254 26-28 Apr 2017
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Early Half Eagles
1796/5 $5 Small Eagle, BD-1, High R.4 -- Repaired -- PCGS Genuine. AU Details. Mint records report that 8,707 half eagles were coined in 1795, and 6,196 were coined in 1796. However, the existence of 12 die varieties for 1795 and only one for 1796 clearly indicates that those records do not represent the number of coins struck with the two different dates, and the an unknown number of 1795-dated varieties were coined in 1796. John Dannreuther suggests that about 650 examples are known of the two dates, including about 90 examples dated 1796. That total represents a little over 4% of the original mintage, suggesting that about 2,000 half eagles were struck bearing the 1796 date. One of those survivors is the present example, a sharply detailed and lightly worn example with sweated greenish-gold surfaces. There were two different methods of sweating, a process where the rogue robbed gold coins of their material. The first method was pickling the gold coin in acid, and the second method was to shake a number of gold coins inside a cloth bag. The processes are described in detail in an article, "Sweating Gold Coin," that appeared in the November 30, 1899 issue of The Reading Eagle from Pennsylvania.
HID02901242017
1796/5 $5 Small Eagle, BD-1, High R.4 -- Repaired -- PCGS Genuine. AU Details. Mint records report that 8,707 half eagles were coined in 1795, and 6,196 were coined in 1796. However, the existence of 12 die varieties for 1795 and only one for 1796 clearly indicates that those records do not represent the number of coins struck with the two different dates, and the an unknown number of 1795-dated varieties were coined in 1796. John Dannreuther suggests that about 650 examples are known of the two dates, including about 90 examples dated 1796. That total represents a little over 4% of the original mintage, suggesting that about 2,000 half eagles were struck bearing the 1796 date. One of those survivors is the present example, a sharply detailed and lightly worn example with sweated greenish-gold surfaces. There were two different methods of sweating, a process where the rogue robbed gold coins of their material. The first method was pickling the gold coin in acid, and the second method was to shake a number of gold coins inside a cloth bag. The processes are described in detail in an article, "Sweating Gold Coin," that appeared in the November 30, 1899 issue of The Reading Eagle from Pennsylvania.
HID02901242017