1795 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle


1795 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle

Circulation Mintage: 500
Obverse Text: 1795 | LIBERTY
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | E PLURIBUS UNUM

A numismatic exclave, disconnected from the 1795 Small Eagle half eagles by time and design, this variety was coined in either 1797 or 1798. Belying the date on the die, this obverse, along with two other 1795-dated obverses, was put back into use after the Heraldic Eagle reverse type debuted in 1797. While these distinctions are meaningful to collectors today, they likely meant little to the coiners then. With depositors expecting their gold quickly returned in the form of new United States coins, and government oversight encouraging efficiency and cost control, using a serviceable but out-of-date die was evidently preferable to creating a new die.

Though very rare as a major variety, three different die marriages of the 1795 Large Eagle or Heraldic Eagle half eagles exist. The BD-15 die marriage is the most plentiful of them, though the Dannreuther-Bass book estimates that just 30 to 35 examples are known. The other two 1795 Large Eagle varieties share a reverse and both are extremely rare. BD-13 is known by just a single surviving specimen, while BD-14 has a population estimated at just 14 to 18 coins. The D. Brent Pogue coin is undoubtedly the finest known of this variety, finer than the specimen retained in the Bass Collection. The only other PCGS MS-64 of the 1795 Large Eagle type is the James A. Stack coin, struck from the more elusive BD-14 die marriage. It last sold in our January 2003 Rarities Sale, the only auction appearance of a PCGS-graded example certified finer than MS-62.

View 1795 Heraldic Eagle Capped Bust Half Eagle Auction Results

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part II Auction, where it realized $282,000.
 

Join our mailing list

Don't miss an auction!

Subscribe to our newsletter.

 

Contact Us

West Coast Office • (800) 458-4646

Midwest Office • (800) 817-2646

East Coast Office • (800) 566-2580

info@stacksbowers.com
 

Hong Kong, China Office • +852 2117 1191

infohk@stacksbowers.com
 

Copenhagen, Denmark • +45 80 40 49 42

infodk@stacksbowers.com

Global locations

Additional representatives
available worldwide.

Follow Us




Subscribe to
Our Newsletter

We are sorry, an unexpected error occurred!
Please enter a valid email address

I'm Interested In...

Thank You!

Thank you for subscribing to the Stack's Bowers Galleries e-newsletter.