1810 Capped Bust Left Half Eagle. BD-2. Rarity-6. Small Date. Small 5. AU-55+ (PCGS). CAC. Gold Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection Label.This is a beautiful Choice About Uncirculated Capped Bust Left half eagle irrespective of date or variety, the fact that it is an example of a highly elusive die marriage is sure to result in particularly spirited bidding. The surfaces are vivid and lustrous, both sides bathed in a blend of deep honey-gold and more vivid reddish-rose colors. Ample evidence of a softly frosted to semi-prooflike finish remains, the fields particularly reflective when viewed with direct lighting. The strike is well balanced and ideally centered within uniformly denticulated borders, most design elements sharp and only the lightest rub evident over the high points. Pleasingly smooth in hand, and uncommonly so for a lightly circulated pre-1834 U.S. Mint gold coin, this piece is sure to find its way into another advanced early gold cabinet. BD Die State b/b.<p>This coin is part of the Chicago Collections four-piece set featuring three of the four known die varieties of the 1810 half eagle. The present example is from the elusive BD-2 die marriage, which corresponds to the Small Date, Small 5 <em>Guide Book</em> variety of this issue. In the outstanding reference <em>Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties: A Study of Die States, 1795-1804</em> (2006), John W. Dannreuther believes that at least 100,287 half eagles were struck bearing the 1810 date. This is the mintage for the denomination for calendar year 1810, perhaps a few additional pieces being coined in 1811. Dannreuthers estimated mintage from the BD-2 dies is 2,000 to 4,000 coins, and he also estimates that only 25 to 30 coins are believed extant in all grades. The actual total seems to be even fewer; our research prior to the February 2016 Pogue III sale suggested that there are fewer than 20 survivors, perhaps as few as 14 distinct examples. D. Brent Pogues was certified MS-62 by PCGS for that sale and ranks as CC#2 for the variety after a PCGS MS-63 example. Offered here is the finer of two examples once owned by Harry W. Bass, Jr.; his duplicate was a PCGS EF-45 that sold in our (Bowers and Merenas) October 1999 Bass II sale. Prior to this sale, the last time we handled an 1810 BD-2 half eagle was in our August 2018 sale of the James A. Stack, Sr. specimen that was certified NGC OH/CAC AU-50. This one is also solidly in the Condition Census, and ranks among the leading highlights in the extraordinary Chicago Collection. A significant bidding opportunity that deserves the utmost in attention from advanced early gold enthusiasts.PCGS# 507595. BASE PCGS# 8105. NGC ID: BFXL.PCGS Population: 1; 3 finer, two of which are Mint State (MS-63 finest).<p>CAC Stickered Population: 1; 3.From the Chicago Collection. Earlier ex Charles Gozan; Paramounts session of Auction 80, August 1980, lot 923, part of a complete four-piece set of 1810 half eagle die varieties; Harry W. Bass, Jr.; Heritages sale of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collection, Part II, January 2023, lot 9037. The plate coin for the attribution in the 2006 Bass-Dannreuther reference on early U.S. Mint gold coin varieties, p. 330.
