1797 Capped Bust Right Eagle. Heraldic Eagle. BD-2, Taraszka-8. Rarity-4+. AU-55+ (PCGS).This handsome Heraldic Eagle $10 has lemon-yellow surfaces and pleasing reflectivity in the fields. The devices show a more frosty luster, and are remarkably sharp on the reverse. There are no notable abrasions and evidence of handling is minimal. Mint-made planchet adjustment marks are most visible in the obverse fields and should not be mistaken for friction. The dies exhibit BD Die State b/b, with thin cracks below the second 7 of the date and a rust lump on the second T of STATES. <p>Bass-Dannreuther 2 is the first of three die marriages that the Mint used to strike 1797 Capped Bust Right eagles of the newly introduced Heraldic Eagle reverse type. It is Style 1 of this type; the head punch is the familiar Draped Bust motif from Robert Scots original hub of 1795, but the reverse is from a John Smith Gardner hub with a long thin neck to the eagle. This is the only die variety of this style. The remaining two marriages of the 1797 Heraldic Eagle display reverse eagle punches that, although they are also from Gardner hubs, are characterized by long thick neck (BD-4) and short thin neck (BD-3) eagles. The estimated mintage for this issue as a whole is in the range of 8,750 to 12,500 pieces. BD-2 vies with BD-4 as the most plentiful variety of the issue, although with no more than 100 coins believed extant (per John W. Dannreuther, 2006), the scarcity of the variety sense cannot be denied. Early eagles as a group are scarce and Mint State survivors are even more elusive, making this an important bidding opportunity worthy of serious consideration. Just a single coin has been graded finer in this category by PCGS.PCGS# 45717.PCGS Population: 1; 2 finer.From the Anthony J. Taraszka Collection.
