1796 Draped Bust Half Dollar. Small Eagle. O-101, T-1. Rarity-5. 15 Stars. VF-35 (PCGS).Offered is a highly desirable mid-grade example of a classic rarity among early U.S. Mint half dollar design types. Plenty of bold to sharp striking detail remains from a nicely centered, overall well executed strike. Stars 1 to 8 on the obverse are blunt, the words UNITED STATES in the legend on the reverse also a bit soft, yet all features are fully outlined and readily appreciable. Dominant light pewter gray patina reveals highlights of pale olive and faint mauve iridescence. Predominantly smooth and very nice for the assigned grade, a few tiny nicks on the obverse serve as useful provenance markers for this significant Small Eagle half dollar. Tompkins Die Stage 1/1.The half dollars that the United States Mint delivered in 1797 differed from those of 1794 and 1795. In late 1796 Mint personnel adopted Robert Scots Draped Bust, Small Eagle design that had already been used on 1795-dated silver dollars for use on the half dollar. The delivery of 1797 amounted to 3,918 pieces, 1,934 or so struck from one of two 1796-dated obverse dies. Surprisingly for a denomination that otherwise proved extremely popular with contemporary bullion depositors, no more half dollars were ordered until 1801, at which time the Heraldic Eagle reverse became current. The Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dollar, therefore, became an instant numismatic rarity -- a two-year design type with a combined mintage of just 3,918 coins. Survivors of both the 1796 and 1797 dates are scarce to rare in all grades, and they never fail to cause a stir among advanced collectors whenever the coins make an appearance at auction.The 1796-dated half dollars were struck using two obverse dies and a single reverse die in two marriages. Overton-101, offered here, is easy to distinguish from O-102 as the former variety exhibits only 15 stars around the obverse border. There are fewer than 100 different examples of the O-101 die marriage believed extant. The E. Horatio Morgan specimen offered here is included in the census of known examples published by Jon P. Amato (The Draped Bust Half Dollars of 1796-1797</em>, 2012), where it is listed with coin serial number 118.PCGS# 39261. NGC ID: 24E9.From the E. Horatio Morgan Collection. Earlier ex Edouard Frossards sale of the E.F. Kuithan Collection, March 1884, lot 528; S.H. and H. Chapmans sale of the Harlan P. Smith Collection, May 1906, lot 576; B. Max Mehls sale of the Arthur C. Nygren Collection, November 1914, lot 180; B. Max Mehls sale of the Alex J. Rosborough Collection, April 1929, lot 84; our (Stacks) sale of the Robert H. Pelletreau Collection, March 1959, lot 724; our (Stacks) sale of the Estate of Corrado Romano, June 1987, lot 572.
