1797 Draped Bust Half Dollar. Small Eagle. O-101a, T-1. Rarity-4+. Good-4 (PCGS).The pretty multicolored peripheral toning on the obverse of this half dollar suggests years of storage in a cardboard coin album. The balance of the surfaces are light silver in appearance. The obverse is the more boldly defined of the two sides. Libertys portrait, the word LIBERTY, the date, and all stars are more or less boldly outlined. There is even some sharper detail remaining to Libertys face and hair tresses; the right obverse border is worn down into the adjacent stars. For the reverse we note loss of detail to the eagles right wing and isolated peripheral devices, although the basic design on that side is appreciable. The texture is a bit glossy with wispy hairlines on both sides, and a few ancient scratches before Libertys portrait are also mentioned for accuracy. All in all, however, this is a respectable circulated example of this scarce and challenging early U.S. Mint type.The Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dollar of 1796 to 1797 is one of the most challenging design types in numismatics. Only four die marriages comprise this brief design type, two each for 1796 and 1797. Unlike the two varieties of the 1796, both varieties of the 1797 issue feature the same obverse die with 15 stars around the obverse periphery. (The 1796 O-101 is also a 15 Stars obverse, but the 1796 O-102 is a 16 Stars variety.) The star count suggests that the obverse die of the 1797 issue was created early in 1796 before the admission of Tennessee as the 16th state in the Union on June 1 of that year. If so, the die was probably left undated, with the date 1797 added when the die was put into production that year. On the other hand, the 1797-dated obverse die could have been produced in late 1796 or 1797 with the engraver simply making a mistake in the use of 15 as opposed to 16 stars.The single obverse die of the 1797 half dollar was paired with two reverse dies. The reverse used in the O-101 pairing was previously used in both the 1796 O-101 and O-102 marriages. The 1797 O-101 is the most frequently encountered variety of the Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dollar, but we caution bidders that the type as a whole is highly elusive. The combined mintage for both the 1796 and 1797 issues is only 3,918 coins, delivered as follows:1 - 60 coins on February 28, 1797, probably all dated 1796.2 - 874 coins on March 21, 1797, again probably all dated 1796.3 - 2,984 coins on May 26, 1797, probably a mix of examples dated 1796 and 1797.No more than 300 or so coins of this type are believed extant, including examples from both 1796- and 1797-dated dies. With most survivors tightly held in type sets and early half dollar variety collections, buying opportunities in todays market usually come along only once in a long while. This is certainly a significant find that is sure to see spirited bidding at auction.
