Auction Name: 2026 January 14 - 17 FUN US Coins Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 3213

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1390*3213

1795 $5 Small Eagle, BD-2, R.6. MS62 NGC. Bass-Dannreuther Die State a/c. Green-gold fields and white-gold devices are complemented by slight rust-gold highlights around the peripheral devices and slight mirroring from newly-polished dies. Light abrasions are present, but none are individually distracting. Obverse strike is razor sharp, with each strand of hair fully visible, although on the reverse, the eagle's neck is flat and the breast feathers are slightly indistinct.

The BD-2 is one of the rarest of the 12 die marriages of 1795 Small Eagle half eagles. Above this die marriage, there is one High R.7 die marriage (BD-11), two R.7s (BD-5 and BD-7), and one High R.6 (BD-12). Six of the other varieties fall in the R.5 range, with the BD-3 by far the most common die marriage of the year at High R.3. The reverse die was previously used for BD-1, and the obverse went on to strike BD-3 and BD-4. Interestingly, there is only one die state known of this die marriage, and the reverse deterioration matches the latest state of BD-1, so the fate of this die marriage remains unknown. Bass-Dannreuther suggest that the reverse die failed catastrophically soon after production began, but an example of a potential terminal die state has yet to be found. That reference attributes Warrant #26's 520 examples, delivered on August 11, 1795, as the sole warrant for this die marriage, which corresponds with the estimated surviving population of 20 to 25 examples.

This is one of the finest known examples of this rare die marriage. A look through our archives reveals just two other Mint State examples out of a total of eight examples - an MS64 NGC from the Warshaw Family Collection and an MS62 PCGS from the Bass Core Collection. Stack's Bowers lists a single MS61 NGC for Mint State examples of this die marriage in their archives. The present offering, tied for the second finest known, previously appeared in our August 2006 offering of the Antigo Collection.
Ex: Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 5/2003), lot 6576, $40,250; Antigo Collection (Heritage, 8/2006), lot 5472, $86,250.
From The Costa Family Collection, Part II.

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