1802/1 Capped Bust Right Quarter Eagle. BD-2. Rarity-5+. Leaf Free of I. AU-58 (PCGS). This is very desirable example of the type, issue and die variety. The strike is typical for a pre-1834 U.S. Mint quarter eagle of this design, the detail soft through the centers, yet bolder toward the borders. Both sides display warm, even, honey-gold color with iridescent highlights of pretty pinkish-rose. Considerable satin to modestly semi-reflective luster remains. This is a highly appealing coin worthy of serious consideration. BD Die State b/b.<p>All 1802 quarter eagles were struck from the same obverse die, which was long considered to be an overdate with an underlying 1 below the primary digit 2. Later research, however, has confirmed that the digit 2 is merely defective, with a line at the upper left knob to the neck of that digit, giving the false appearance of an overdate. The obverse stars are arranged 8 left, 5 right, which required the engraver to place Libertys portrait higher in the field and shift the word LIBERTY to the right so that it starts before the cap. This placement also allowed for more space for the date below the bust. The reverse die of the BD-2 variety has the closest leaf in the branch free of the letter I in AMERICA, the only one of the three reverses with this feature. This reverse die was also used to coin the rare 1804 BD-1 quarter eagle, as well as dimes of the 1802 JR-4 and 1804 JR-1 varieties.<p>Die state b/b is the later of just two known for this variety. The obverse state was inherited from the BD-1 marriage, while on the reverse state b is attributable by the presence of a light crack that originates at the edge above the eagles left (facing) wing and extends to the upper left of the first letter S in STATES.<p>Out of an estimated mintage of 3,035 quarter eagles bearing the 1802 date, 400 to 800 coins are believed to have been struck from the BD-2 die pairing. With only 30 to 35 survivors accounted for, BD-2 is the rarest of the three known die marriages of the issue, handily outdistancing its closest rival BD-3 (60 to 75 coins believed extant). An important offering for early quarter eagle variety specialists, the fact that this reverse die was also used in the early dime series gives this coin crossover appeal with students of that type. From the Pieper Collection.
