1795 $5 Small Eagle, BD-3, High R.3, MS62 NGC....

Description

1795 BD-3 Half Eagle, MS62
Mint State First Year of Issue

1795 $5 Small Eagle, BD-3, High R.3, MS62 NGC. Bass-Dannreuther Die State c/b. Sumptuous green-gold surfaces contain hints of orange-gold toning in the protected areas. Abrasions are limited to hairlines in the fields, and even then, none are major. All design details are fully impressed into the planchet.

The BD-3 is the most available die marriage from a date that saw 15 varieties. However, not all of these die marriages comprised the 8,707 half eagles minted in 1795. Many examples were produced in subsequent years using leftover dies, a common practice at the early Mint. The BD-3, however, was likely made in 1795. Bass-Dannreuther suggest that the prior BD-2 made up some or all of the August 11, 1795 delivery of 520 half eagles, and if this variety comprised this full delivery, it would align well with survival rates. Given that ten times the number of BD-3 examples survive than BD-2 coins, it is likely that the BD-3 comprised all of the August 14, 1795 through September 3, 1795 deliveries, as well as part of the September 12 delivery. This comes out to about 5,000 coins -- ten times that of BD-2's 520 coins.

After beginning with copper coinage in 1793, the Mint started producing silver coins in 1794 and gold coins in 1795. The first gold coins produced were half eagles, and the first delivery occurred on July 31, 1795. However, the term half eagle, and the whole concept of a denomination for Early gold coins in general, was actually a misnomer at the time. As John Dannreuther points out in Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties:
"Even though a gold eagle was denominated as a ten-dollar coin...[t]he weight and purity were the only things important to merchants and individuals--money was gold, and gold was money. In most cases, transactions had to be settled in gold, especially where governments were involved. There really was no need for at first for a stated denomination on either gold (or silver) coins, because it was known that our coins would be under extreme scrutiny and would likely be assayed by foreign mints and others as to their weight and purity. However, Robert Morris, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, the architects of the United States' monetary system, realized that a bimetallic system would afford this new country a more flexible currency, as both would be readily acceptable. Thus, the gold eagle was equal to 10 silver dollars, although eagles bore no denomination until their resumption of production in 1838."
As all collectors know, gold content is the main reason these Early half eagles are so rare today. By the 1820s, they contained more intrinsic gold value than the face value of the coin, so the extreme scrutiny used towards our coins caused profits for speculators and smaller surviving populations for collectors today.

However, in these early years, gold coins did circulate. For the 1795, examples in Mint State, such as the present offering, are quite scarce, especially with the surface quality of this example.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 25ND, Variety PCGS# 519852, Base PCGS# 8066, Greysheet# 198165)

Metal: 91.67% Gold, 8.33% Copper
Weight: 8.75 grams
AGW: 0.28oz
Mintage: 8,707

Note for clients in the European Union: This lot is considered by the European Union to be “investment gold”. We believe that it meets the criteria established in Article 344(1), point (2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC and thus should be exempt from import VAT regardless of the selling price. Any questions or concerns about VAT should be addressed to your accountant or local tax authority.

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