Rare 1797 Half Dollar to be Offered at Auction!

Dallas, Texas: The 1797 half dollar, along with its 1796-dated companion, is one of the keys to the entire United States type series. This design type, which consists of a Draped Bust Liberty on the obverse and a Small Eagle on the reverse, is sometimes considered a transitional one between the Flowing Hair motif on the half dimes, half dollars, and dollars dated 1794 and 1795, and the Draped Bust Heraldic Eagle design on the half dimes (1800-1805), dimes (1798-1807), quarters (1804-1807), half dollars (1801-1807), and dollars (1798-1803).

"The Draped Bust Small Eagle half dollar series was produced with three obverse and two reverse dies," said Greg Rohan, President of Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries. "The first reverse die was paired with all three obverse dies, including the 1796 15-stars, the 1796 16-stars, and the 1797. During its use with the 1797 obverse, it developed numerous cracks, and was replaced with a new reverse die. The coin presented in our upcoming auction exhibits the cracked reverse die state, Overton-101a."

"This problem-free, Choice XF example displays pleasing light silver-gray patination imbued with traces of gold-beige and powder-blue," Rohan continued. "The design elements retain nice detail, with most of Liberty's hair strands and the eagle's wing feathers showing; the eagle's torso, legs, and neck are somewhat smooth. Most of the dentilation is strong, and is visible on both sides. Some faint pinscratch-like marks are noted on Liberty's portrait under high magnification; these do not distract, and may serve as pedigree markers. No adjustment marks are seen on either side."

"In summary," said Rohan, "this is a fabulous coin for the collector seeking to complete a type set of U.S. coinage or a collection of early half dollars. Better-grade examples such as this do not come along that frequently. Moreover, extant pieces of this design type are often found with impairments of one kind or another. We expect, therefore, that this piece will receive considerable attention from advanced numismatists."

Heritage Auction Galleries will offer the 1797 50C XF45 NGC. in their upcoming Signature Auction, to be held July 17-20, 2006 in Dallas, Texas.

Images, descriptions, and prices realized from all of Heritage's previous auctions are available in the Permanent Auction Archives at the Heritage website, www.HeritageAuctions.com.

To reserve your copy of a catalog for any upcoming Heritage auction, please contact Nicole Jewell, c/o Heritage Auction Galleries, 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas, TX 75219, or call 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272.