1798 $5 Small Eagle, BD-1, R.7, AU55 PCGS....

Description

1798 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle, AU55
Extremely Rare Small Eagle, BD-1 Variety
Only Six or Seven Specimens Extant
Finest-Known Example, Ex: Farouk-Pogue

1798 $5 Small Eagle, BD-1, R.7, AU55 PCGS. Ex: D. Brent Pogue Collection. Bass-Dannreuther Die State a/c, with evidence of extensive lapping on the reverse. The 1798 Small Eagle half eagle is one of the rarest and most enigmatic issues in all of American numismatics. Only six or seven examples are known to present-day numismatists, with two of those coins included in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, forever out of reach of even the most advanced collectors. No Mint State specimens are known, and the attractive Choice AU specimen offered here is the single-finest certified example. Historically, the 1798 Small Eagle half eagle has been somewhat overlooked, outside of series specialists. Because the 1798 Small Eagle five is so rare, public offerings are few and far between, leaving the issue "out of sight, out of mind" for most collectors. However, some high-profile public offerings in recent years have resulted in new prices realized records in excess of $1 million, significantly raising the profile of the coins and increasing public knowledge of the issue. Heritage Auctions is privileged to present the finest-known example of this classic early gold rarity, from the fabulous Bruce Sherman Collection, in this important offering.

Producing the Coins
(The following section has been lightly edited and reprinted from our description of the Bass coin in 2023). According to Mint records, a respectable mintage of 24,867 Capped Bust Right half eagles was accomplished in 1798. In Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties, John Dannreuther and Harry Bass identify eight different die varieties for the date, seven with the new Heraldic Eagle design and a single variety with the Small Eagle reverse used in earlier years. This coin represents the ultra-rare BD-1 variety, the only 1798 variety to employ the Small Eagle motif on the reverse. Dannreuther notes it would be a mistake to consider the BD-1 just another rare variety in the series, as it is the only Capped Bust Right half eagle to exhibit 13 stars on the obverse and the Small Eagle design on the reverse. It should be collected as a completely separate one-year design type. The obverse die was used again to strike the BD-2 variety of 1798 and the reverse die had been used previously to produce the BD-8 variety of 1795. The reverse die needed extensive lapping to remove three years of rust and decay before it could be used to strike the 1798 BD-1 coins, and all examples seen exhibit some loss of detail on the reverse. Another feature common to all known examples is the circular die crack below the date that probably resulted from a deeper than usual guideline that was engraved to guide the engraver in placing the dentils.

Interestingly, many numismatists believe the 1798 Small Eagle half eagle was actually struck in 1797. The annual yellow fever epidemic caused the Philadelphia Mint to close for an extensive period in 1797, creating a stronger than usual demand for coinage late in the year. Walter Breen notes the Mint employed emergency measures to meet this demand and struck coins "from any dies that might hold together, even briefly in the hasty days following the Mint's reopening." If the 1798 obverse dies were already prepared, the 1798 Small Eagle half eagles might have been included in the 3,226 coins delivered on December 5, 1797. Otherwise, they were probably part of the 691 pieces of Warrant 100 delivered on January 4, 1798. Craig Sholley has determined that the Mint owned four coin presses in 1798, but they only employed enough skilled pressmen to operate two presses at the same time, making really large mintages in a short period of time impossible. John Dannreuther estimates the BD-1 dies were used to strike only 300-600 examples of the 1798 Small Eagle half eagle.

The 1798 Small Eagle Half Eagle in the 19th Century
Many of the more subtle early U.S. gold varieties were only recognized much later, when the study of die varieties became widely established, but the more obvious 1798 Capped Bust Right, Small Eagle half eagle was recognized by collectors from the earliest days of the hobby. Pioneer collector Joseph Mickley owned an example at an early date, but the U.S. gold portion of his collection was sold privately, with little fanfare, and few numismatists were aware of this piece until later. The issue began appearing at auction as early as lot 2752 of the Sixth Semi-Annual Sale (W. Elliott Woodward, 3/1865), where the cataloger noted:

"1798 Small eagle reverse; in very good condition, only a little circulated. I have never heard of another of this variety, and believe this to be as rare as any coin in the American Gold series, not excepting the half eagle of 1815."

Contemporary collectors appreciated the rarity of the coin in this initial offering and the lot realized $125, an extraordinary price at the time, and was sold to Massachusetts coin dealer William Strobridge.

Cambridgeport, Massachusetts collector George F. Seavey exhibited an example of the 1798 Small Eagle five dollar, along with the rest of his remarkable gold collection, at the February 4, 1869 meeting of the Boston Numismatic Society and an account of that exhibition was reported in the April 1869 edition of the American Journal of Numismatics, spreading the word of the variety throughout the numismatic community. This coin later passed to Boston super collector Lorin G. Parmelee, when he purchased Seavey's entire collection in 1873. The 1798 Small Eagle five dollar appeared in five more auctions by the turn of the century, with a few of the specimens offered more than once (see roster below for details). By 1888, the cataloger of the Reverend Foster Ely Collection (Scott Stamp & Coin, 11/1888) reported that he knew of four examples of this early gold rarity. Subsequently, the Mint Cabinet acquired the former Seavey/Parmelee example in 1890, making it available for public viewing for the first time.

The 1798 Small Eagle Five Dollar in Later Times
Collector enthusiasm for early half eagles remained strong in the early 20th century and the 1798 Small Eagle five realized extremely high prices in its rare auction appearances during this era. The coin in lot 2339 of the George Earle Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1912) realized a staggering price of $3,000, the highest price ever realized by any early U.S. gold coin at the time. Ten years later, the James Ten Eyck specimen brought $5,250 when it was offered in B. Max Mehl's May 1922 auction, another landmark price.

However, collector interest shifted to large denomination gold coins after the Gold Recall of 1933 took effect. Savvy numismatists, like Dr. Charles W. Green and Louis Eliasberg, realized that collecting large denomination gold coins, especially double eagles, was one of the few legal options for U.S. citizens to invest in gold in quantity. By that time, most examples of the 1798 Small Eagle half eagle were tightly held in long term collections. Only two auction appearances are known for the 1798 Small Eagle five dollar in the two decades between 1930 and 1950, keeping the issue out of the public eye for most of this period. Coupled with the shift in collector interest to eagles and double eagles, the lack of public offerings caused the 1798 Small Eagle five to fade into obscurity. A flurry of auction appearances in the 1950s and the emergence of two multigenerational family collections around 1980 revived some of the earlier interest, but the enigmatic 1798 Small Eagle five dollar remained an overlooked and underappreciated issue down to recent times. Ironically, the extreme rarity of the 1798 Small Eagle five largely restricted knowledge of the issue to series specialists before this coin appeared in the heralded D. Brent Pogue Collection in 2015, where it realized a staggering $1,175,000. A few years later, the Harry Bass AU53 specimen realized an even higher price of $1,980,000 when it appeared in a Heritage auction in 2023, cementing the issue's status as a top-tier numismatic rarity and trophy coin.

A dilemma has recently arisen concerning the number of survivors of this classic rarity. The Earle-Atwater example seems to have vanished after its last auction appearance in 1946. It is unusual for such a coin, with an established record of high value and collector demand, to just disappear into the woodwork for more than 75 years. The situation is further complicated by John Dannreuther's discovery of another example of the 1798 Small Eagle half eagle in 1996. Some authorities, including the 2025 Guide Book, believe these two specimens are actually the same coin, reducing the surviving population to a mere six pieces. Other experts understand the desire to connect the provenance of these two pieces but cannot reconcile some differences that appear in the plates of these examples. In the absence of expert consensus, we have listed the two examples separately in our roster below, but we suspect the last word on this subject has yet to be heard.

The Present Coin
This coin first surfaced in the collection of Pennsylvania collector Raymond Caldwell, who published his ownership of this piece in an article in the April 1935 issue of The Numismatist. It appeared in a couple of prominent Stack's auctions in the mid-1940s, before being sold privately to the eccentric King Farouk of Egypt. When Farouk was deposed in the early 1950s, his legendary collection, including this coin, was auctioned by the famous British auction firm of Sotheby's, acting for the Egyptian government, in 1954. It later appeared in lot 1203 of the Farish Baldenhofer Collection (Stack's, 1/1955), where it was featured as the single cover coin and realized a tremendous price of $6,000. It was acquired by prominent Texas collector John Murrell, who held on to this piece for many years. It passed to another legendary Texas collection when it was purchased by Mac and Brent Pogue in August 1979, via Mike Brownlee. At the sale of the magnificent D. Brent Pogue Collection in 2015, this coin realized a then record price of $1,175,000. It has remained in Bruce Sherman's remarkable collection ever since.

Physical Description
This remarkable Choice AU specimen exhibits well-detailed design elements, with just a trace of wear on the high points of the devices. Some loss of detail is evident on the reverse due to lapping, with a leaf missing on the top left side of the wreath, another leaf largely effaced on the olive branch, and the upper right serif of the I in AMERICA also missing. The weakness of these features, seen on all known examples, is characteristic of reverse Die State c. The arcing die crack below the date and the first four stars on the left is also seen on all known examples, probably the result of a deep guide line inscribed to help with the placement of the dentils. The pleasing orange-gold surfaces retain a mix of satiny mint luster and prooflike reflectivity in the fields, with only minor abrasions evident and some parallel planchet adjustment marks in the left obverse field. The overall presentation is most attractive. This coin is the finest-known example of this landmark early gold rarity, and it has been off the market for almost a decade since its then record-setting appearance in the Pogue Collection. This coin possesses an unbeatable combination of absolute rarity, highest available technical quality, and outstanding historic interest. It may be decades before a comparable specimen becomes available. We expect intense competition from series specialists and Registry Set enthusiasts alike when this lot is called. The 1798 Small Eagle half eagle is listed among the 100 Greatest U.S. Coins. This coin is pictured on PCGS CoinFacts. Population: 1 in 55, 0 finer (10/24).

Roster of 1798 Capped Bust Right Half Eagles, Small Eagle, BD-1, R.7
This roster was expanded from an earlier work by John Dannreuther, Ron Guth of the Numismatic Detective Agency, Saul Teichman, and David Stone.
1. AU55 PCGS. Raymond Caldwell (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), mentioned in Caldwell's article in the April 1935 issue of The Numismatist; Col. James W. Flanagan Collection (Stack's, 3/1944), lot 1063, an annotated copy of the Flanagan catalog indicates a collector named "Tanner" was the winning bidder, at $5,000; Clifford T. Weihman (possibly the real identity of "Tanner"); Stack's, sold privately after 1946; King Farouk; The Palace Collections of Egypt (Sotheby's, 2/1954), lot 229; Paul Wittlin, per Gaston DiBello's annotated copy of the catalog and Abe Kosoff's article in the 11/2/1977 edition of Coin World; William G. Baldenhofer; Farish Baldenhofer Collection (Stack's, 1/1955), lot 1203, realized $6,000; John H. Murrell Collection; Goliad Corporation (Mike Brownlee), sold privately in 8/1979; D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II (Stack's Bowers & Sotheby's, 9/2015), lot 2074, realized $1,175,000. The present coin.
Note: Some numismatists have attributed this coin to the James A. Stack Collection, but it is doubtful that Stack ever owned this coin.
2. AU53 PCGS. B. Max Mehl, sold privately in 1924 for $5,250 to John H. Clapp; Clapp Collection, sold intact via Stack's in 1942; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; Eliasberg Estate; United States Gold Coin Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1982), lot 330, realized $77,000, to Harry W. Bass, Jr.; Harry Bass Core Collection (HBCC# 3049); Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collection, Part IV (Heritage, 8/2023), lot 9030, realized $1,980,000.
3. AU53 PCGS. Joseph J. Mickley Collection; W. Elliot Woodward; William Sumner Appleton, via Woodward in 1867; John C. Schayer; Woodward again; purchased by T. Harrison Garrett in January 1883 for $100; Robert and John Work Garrett, after T. Harrison Garrett's death in 1888; John Work Garrett bought out or traded for his brother's interest in the collection, circa 1919; Johns Hopkins University, by bequest in 1942; Garrett Collection, Part I (Bowers and Ruddy, 11/1979), lot 437, realized $110,000, to Ken Goldman; Auction '83 (Paramount, 7/1983), lot 367, realized $71,500; Kevin Lipton; Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries, sold privately to a mystery buyer; St. Jude Collection (via Jay Parrino). In the January 2022 issue of Coin World, Vicken Yegparian recounted how this coin reappeared in 2016 and was later sold to the St. Jude Collection through Jay Parrino for a figure in excess of the $1,175,000 price realized by the Pogue coin in 2015.
4. XF40 PCGS. Southern family; discovered in July 1996 by John Dannreuther in a Southern coin shop; JDRC Inc.; Ken Goldman at the 1996 ANA convention; Anthony Terranova, sold privately; Dr. Gene Sherman Collection (via Anthony Terranova); Dr. Jon Kardatzke (via Anthony Terranova and Dave Liljestrand in April 1998); consigned by Kardatzke to the following; Dr. Richard Ariagno Collection (Goldberg Auctions, 5/1999), lot 710, bought in by the consignor; Dr. Jon Kardatzke Collection (Goldberg Auctions, 6/2000), lot 1290, realized $264,500.
5. XF -- Damaged -- Uncertified (grade per Jeff Garrett). John Colvin Randall Collection (W. Elliot Woodward, 6/1885), lot 877, probably bought in; Randall Collection, Part II (W. Elliot Woodward, 9/1885), lot 1000, the reverse plate is an easy match to the Ten Eyck coin (see next); James Ten Eyck Collection (B. Max Mehl, 5/1922), lot 166, realized $5,250, plate matched to Mehl's Newcomer plates (see next); Waldo C. Newcomer Collection (inventory #28, showing a cost of $5,250); B. Max Mehl, sold privately circa 1932; "Colonel" E.H.R. Green Collection; Davis-Graves Collection (Stack's, 4/1954), lot 1418, realized $7,000; C.T. Weihman Collection; Josiah K. Lilly Collection; donated to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in 1967.
6. Very Fine Uncertified (estimated grade). George F. Seavey, exhibited at the February 4, 1869 meeting of the Boston Numismatic Society; Seavey Descriptive Catalog (William Strobridge, 6/1873), lot 286; Lorin G. Parmelee, who purchased Seavey's entire collection before the public auction was scheduled to take place; Lorin G. Parmelee Collection (New York Coin & Stamp Co., 6/1890), lot 758; George D. Woodside, acting as agent for the Mint Cabinet; Mint Cabinet, acquisition date June 28, 1890, listed in T.L. Comparette's catalog of the Mint's collection in 1912; National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
7. Fine Uncertified. John Butler, a Burlington, New Jersey druggist, circa 1900, sold upon his death by his son to George H. Earle, Jr.; George H. Earle, Jr. Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1912), lot 2339, realized $3,000; Col. James W. Ellsworth Collection, sold privately in 1923; Wayte Raymond; William Cutler Atwater Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1946), lot 1612. This example has been claimed, with varying degrees of certainty, to be the Kardatzke coin (#4 above).

Additional Appearances:
A. The discovery specimen appeared in the Sixth Semi-Annual Sale (W. Elliot Woodward, 3/1865), lot 2752, realize $125 to William Strobridge. This coin may be the same as number 6 above, as Strobridge and Seavey were very close and did much business together in the 1860s.
B. Historical Collection (H.P. Smith, 3/1883), lot 1005.
C. Reverend Foster Ely Collection (Scott Stamp and Coin Company, 11/1888), lot 17, realized $51; James Vila Dexter. Both Raymond Caldwell and Walter Breen believed this was the Ten-Eyck/Davis-Graves coin, number 5 above.
D. A second example in "Colonel" E.H.R. Green's collection; Green Estate in 1936. Lot 79 of Highlights From the Stack Family Library (George Frederick Kolbe, 9/2010) lists many records from Stack's sale of "Colonel" Green's gold coin collection to various parties in the mid-1940s. Among the notes in the five dollar inventory was the following, "Two of the seven known 1798 Small Eagles were in the collection." We have only been able to confirm one "Colonel" Green 1798 Small Eagle five dollar in the roster above. It is possible that coin number 1 is the other example, as it matches the coin in Stack's "Colonel" Green plates, but that is not certain, since Stack's used the Green plates for stock photos in several auctions during this time period.
From The Bruce S. Sherman Collection, Part I.

Coin Index Numbers: (Variety PCGS# 507321, Base PCGS# 8071, GSID# 394005)

Metal: 91.67% Gold, 8.33% Copper
Weight: 8.75 grams
AGW: 0.25789oz
Mintage: 7

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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