1795 $5 Small Eagle MS(PCGS#8066)

1795 $5 Small Eagle MS (PCGS#8066)

June 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

详细说明: Offered is a scarce Mint State example of one of the most significant and eagerly sought of all U.S. Mint gold issues. Bright, vivid, golden-wheat color blankets both sides and delivers strong eye appeal. The fields are semi-reflective in finish and form a nice backdrop to frosty, boldly to sharply struck design elements. Softness is minor and confined to the lower left obverse and upper left reverse borders, the result of minor adjustment marks (as made) in the latter area. There are no sizable or otherwise significant handling marks. The reverse is rotated a few degrees clockwise from normal coin alignment. BD Die State d/a.<p>The first gold coin struck for the United States of America was the 1795 Small Eagle half eagle, 8,707 examples of which were delivered that year. Based on the number of coins extant, it is highly likely that additional examples of this issue were struck in 1796. Indeed, John W. Dannreuther (<em>Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties: A Study of Die States, 1795-1834</em>, 2006) estimates that the mintage for the 1795 Small Eagle may be as high as 12,106 pieces. The BD-4 die pairing is a scarcer one for the date and has an extant population of only 60 to 75 coins in all grades. Most of our offerings for this variety in recent decades have been for well circulated examples, many also impaired; it has been nearly 15 years since we last offered a Mint State 1795 BD-4 half eagle.