The Square-Base 2 varieties are more common than the five Curve-Based 2 die marriages. The most available of the latter is the BD-5 and that is still a Rarity-6 issue. Even here there is an important subdivision in varieties; three reverse dies bear large letters, with the other two utilizing a small letter logotype. One of the key distinguishing marks of the BD-8 is the placement of Liberty's lowest curl principally over the 0 in the date — the sole use for this die. Even though more than a quarter million half eagles were struck in 1820, of these roughly 6,000 to 8,000 are believed to be the BD-8 variety. The BD-8 is in a class of its own. Indeed, Bass and Dannreuther estimate that the total number of survivors for the two Curved-Base 2 Small Letters varieties lies between 10 and 16. For the BD-8, this can be further reduced to four to six. Remarkably, Bass was able to acquire two specimens struck from this die combination. Two die states are known, with the terminal die state suffering a heavy die crack at OF on the reverse, a crack that eventually ended this die's useful life.

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