1806 Draped Bust Half Cent. C-2. Rarity-4. Small 6, Stems to Wreath. AU-55 (PCGS). CAC. Type: Type IV: Draped Bust.Design: Obv: A draped bust of Liberty faces right, her hair tied with a ribbon. The word LIBERTY is above and the date 1806 is below. Rev: Design of 1802 to 1808. A wreath surrounds the denomination HALF CENT, the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border and another expression of the denomination, 1/200, below. A ribbon knot with double bow binds the base of the wreath.Weight Standard: 84 grains (5.44 grams).Diameter: 23.5 mm.Die Variety: Cohen-2, Breen-1, Gilbert-2. Obv: Small 6 in the date, the digit distant from the base of Libertys bust. The upright of the letter R in LIBERTY is missing its right foot. This is the only use of this obverse die. Rev: Stems to Wreath, one of two reverse dies for the 1806-dated issue for which this is true. There are six berries on the left branch, five on the right, with the lowest berry on the former side attached to a leaf point. This reverse was later used in the rare 1806 C-3 pairing.Cohen-2, along with the rare C-3, corresponds to the Small 6, Stems to Wreath <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1806 half cent.Die State: Manley 2.0, described as "rare" by the author. Obv: Clash marks from the denticles on the reverse are evident at the base of the letters RT in LIBERTY. Rev: Perfect.Edge: Plain.Mintage: The reported half cent mintage for calendar year 1806 is 356,000 coins, achieved in two deliveries:-September 19: 179,000 coins-December 30: 177,000 coinsThe mintage from 1806-dated dies is unknown, however, as some of the coins delivered that year many have been from the 1805 C-1 die pairing, and many examples from 1806-dated dies were almost certainly struck during calendar year 1807.Estimated Surviving Population for the Issue: More than 4,000 coins in all grades.Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety: Rarity-4: 75 to 200 coins in all grades.Strike: Boldly defined overall with a touch of softness to the high points of Libertys portrait and the wreath, yet sharper detail to other elements of those devices. Border denticulation is absent along the lower left obverse, upper left reverse, yet appreciable elsewhere.Surfaces: A satiny and attractive example, both sides exhibit blushes and swirls of copper-gray on autumn-brown patina. There are a few light handling marks on the obverse over and around Libertys portrait, well concealed verdigris spot on the reverse within the letter E in CENT. This is a glossy and appealing Choice AU.Commentary: Cohen-2 is the more readily obtainable of the two die marriages of the 1806 Small 6, Stems to Wreath <em>Guide Book</em> variety, but examples are still scarce in an absolute sense. In fact, C-2 is the second rarest die marriage of the 1806-dated issue as a whole, and survivors are especially elusive in the finer circulated and Mint State grades, as here. This is actually the second finest 1806 C-2 that we have offered in recent years after the Missouri Cabinet-Pogue specimen in PCGS MS-64 BN, which is tied for CC#2. Here is a find for the advanced collector.The emission sequence for the four die marriages of the 1806-dated half cent issue is C-2, C-3, C-1 and C-4. From the ESM Collection. Earlier from Heritages FUN Signature Auction of January 2006, lot 521.
