The BD-9 die marriage of the 1799 gold eagle is very rare, with fewer than 20 examples known. Their extraordinary rarity underlines the Herculean effort and deep pockets required to assemble a complete die marriage set of early $10 eagles, a feat that Harvey Jacobson Jr. accomplished years ago. We have had the pleasure of selling many of the exceptional coins from his collection and our June Showcase Auction will feature a 1799 BD-9 $10 eagle.
Two die pairs were used to strike gold eagles in 1799, cataloged as BD-9 and -10. BD-9 is significantly rarer than BD-10; surviving examples of the BD-9 number fewer than 20, while hundreds of BD-10s are known.
With a shared obverse die (with Large Stars), the two marriages are distinguished by their reverse dies. On the BD-9’s reverse, the lowest berry in the olive branch sits past the A in AMERICA, while on the BD-10 reverse the berry is centered under the letter’s right foot.
Given its rarity, the BD-9 die marriage is often neglected out of necessity by those forming a date set of early eagles; the more exacting die marriage set, completed by just two specialists before Mr. Jacobson, naturally demands the rarer BD-9 marriage. The example from Jacobson’s collection that Stack’s Bowers Galleries is featuring in June is graded AU Details – Plugged by PCGS. It received the following description from our cataloger: “Warmly and evenly retoned in bold olive-orange, this coin is quite attractive eye. A glossy texture and wispy hairlines betray an old cleaning, and a neatly executed plug at 11 o’clock relative to the obverse identifies this as a former jewelry piece. Overall detail remains bold, nonetheless, with the finer elements of Liberty’s portrait and the reverse actually quite sharp. BD Die State a/b.”
We are excited to be offer gold specialists the opportunity to acquire such a rare die marriage.
For more information or to consign to our June 2023 Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Summer Expo call 800-458-4646 or email Info@StacksBowers.com.
