1810 Capped Bust Left Half Eagle. BD-4. Rarity-2. Large Date, Large 5. MS-62 (PCGS).A warmly patinated honey-orange example with a hard satin to softly frosted texture to both sides. Sharply struck overall and uncommonly smooth in hand at the assigned grade level.<p>Easily identified by the huge round 0 in the date, the reverse of the popular BD-4 Large Date, Large 5 half eagle may also be recognized by the large very round 5 on the reverse that does not touch the border (by comparison, the Tall 5 reverse found on the BD-1 marriage has a much more slender appearance and just barely touches one of the border dentils). Dannreuther estimates that somewhere between 75,000 and 90,000 of the entire mintage of 1810 half eagles are of this variety. Despite the comparatively large mintage for the era, less than 1% are thought to exist today due largely to the mass meltings in the 1820s and 1830s when the intrinsic value of the gold exceeded the face value, making these coins targets for speculators abroad. Fortunately for numismatists, a sizable percentage of these lucky survivors are Mint State examples, making this issue among the most popular of all early gold. Worthy of a premium bidding strategy.From the Heintzelman Collection.
