1797 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Small Eagle. BD-2. Rarity-7. 15 Stars, Narrow Date. AU-53 (NGC). The attractive medium gold surfaces display desirable nuances of deeper gold toning toward the rims. Minor handling is consistent with the grade, with no serious distractions beyond a gentle edge bump near 4 oclock on the obverse, which would serve to identify this piece in the future. Struck from the latest state of the dies (BD Die State b/d), as described by John Dannreuther in his work <em>Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties</em>, with extensive cracks seen on the reverse die. This die had earlier been paired with a different obverse, where it was initially cracked in use, but remained solid enough to be used in this later marriage. The obverse, according to Dannreuther, should exhibit a crack in this state along the left side of Libertys head, beginning at the edge and passing between star 1 and the lowest hair curl. This is not detected on the present example. However, there is a crack well within the cap and hair curls, about a third of the way into the portrait from the back, and it is possibly what is referred to by Dannreuther. The die state seems similar to that seen on the Harry W. Bass Core Collection example, plated both in Dannreuther and in the Bass Museum Sylloge. The Bass Collection coin (ex Garrett) is a little sharper, though striking characteristics are similar. Some softness on this coin can be attributed to a thinness of the planchet where a light adjustment was made prior to striking. Traces of the tell tale adjustment marks can seen along the obverse border from about 2 oclock to 4 oclock, and at the corresponding area on the reverse. The detail is perfectly satisfying, though perhaps it is of little significance on such a rare variety.<p>All 1797 half eagle varieties are difficult to find, and curiously, the Small Eagle type overall gets rarer as the dates progress, with 1795 really the most frequently seen. There are four die varieties among the 1797 Small Eagle fives, and all are rather rare. It is estimated that just 20 to 25 examples are known of the most common variety, BD-3, while the rarest, BD-4) is represented by a single coin. The variety offered here is the second rarest among them, with just eight to 12 survivors believed extant, per Dannreuthers research. Harry Bass actually owned two of these coins, and this one is considerably sharper than the one we (Bowers and Merena) sold in Part II of his collection (October 1999, lot 720). At least three to four years seems to be the normal time span between offerings of the rare 15-Star 1797 half eagle. For the collector seeking this rarity, this is an important opportunity. Ex August 2013 Chicago ANA Auction, lot 4471.
