Auction Name: 2026 March 26 - 28 US Coins Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 3179

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1391*3179

1806 $5 Pointed 6, 8x5 Stars, BD-5, High R.6, MS61 PCGS. White-gold and wheat-gold intersperse to create a beautiful patina of lighter hues. Post-mint abrasions are virtually absent, though significant parallel adjustment marks are found on the reverse. Striking weakness is intense at the center of both sides of this coin, but this is present on all known examples of this die marriage and likely tells us a great deal about its demise. Bass-Dannreuther repeats Miller's speculation that die sinking induced by improper hardening caused this die's demise, and also suggests that reversed die positioning -- the obverse as the anvil die and the reverse as the hammer die -- contributed to the weakness as well. Either way, the coin should not be docked solely for this reason.

The same or similar phenomena did not occur on most other die marriages of the year, however. BD-6, the sole Knobbed 6 variety of the year, is R.2, and the BD-1, 2, and 4 varieties are in the R.4 to R.5 range. The only competition to the present BD-5 in terms of rarity is the R.7 BD-3, which quickly developed multiple die cracks.

In terms of quality, this is likely tied for second finest known of the die marriage. A look through our and Stacks Bowers' archives reveals our sale of an MS61 example in 2022, along with the MS63 Bass example we sold in 2023. The former offering lists only a half-dozen auction appearances, and just the Bass example and one other have been available at auction since then. Therefore, this example is likely tied for Condition Census #2.
From The Charles Collection.

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