1798 $5 Small 8 MS(PCGS#8079)
1798 $5 Small 8 MS (PCGS#8079)
Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 3291
- 等级
- AU55
- 价格
- 188,515
- 详细说明
- BD Die State a/b. A boldly toned and handsome coin, and also a rare one in terms of both variety and die pairing. Deep olive undertones yield to warmer orange-gold color under a light. Central striking detail is soft on both sides, not unusual for this variety, and we note a concentration of adjustment marks (as made) on the obverse running horizontally through Liberty's portrait. The definition sharpens considerably toward the borders, where one is treated to full, uniform denticulation where allowed by die preparation. An otherwise satiny finish yields to subtle semi-reflectivity in the fields. Free of all but wispy post-production marks with a lovely appearance in-hand for a lightly circulated early U.S. Mint gold coin. BD Die State a/b is reported as "may exist" by John W. Dannreuther (2006), but it is irrefutable here given the perfect state of the obverse combined with the arcing reverse crack from the border before the letter O in OF to the scroll just before its junction with the eagle's left wing.<p>The second scarcest <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1798 Heraldic Eagle five, the Small 8 has an extant population of only 75 to 100 coins across three die marriages (BD-6, 7 and 8). The BD-6 is the second scarcest in this group with just 30 to 40 examples known (per Dannreuther). Two out of the last four AUs that we offered were impaired, further confirming the rarity and desirability of this lovely PCGS AU-55 coin. It follows our recent offering of two (!) PCGS AU-53 examples, both also in BD Die State a/b, in our August 2023 Global Showcase and November 2024 Showcase auctions.<p>The first generation PCGS insert uses coin #8078, which is now reserved for the Large 8, 13-Star Reverse <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1798 Heraldic Eagle $5.