A 1796 Half Dollar, the Very Scarce Draped Bust, Small Eagle Type — Welcome to the CAC Educational Forum
›

A 1796 Half Dollar, the Very Scarce Draped Bust, Small Eagle Type

BillJonesBillJones
in Silver Coins

This was last coin I needed to complete my half cent through dollar coin type set. I had hoped to fill this slot with a VF, but availability and market prices pushed me to this piece which is PCGS graded Fine-15. This is the lowest grade coin in my type set. It is worth a mid 5-figure amount.

Would it CAC? Only JA knows. Dealer Liz Cogan liked it, and I value her opinion. She thought that it would be "good trade" bait if I ever could upgrade it.

To put this piece into its historical context, the combined half dollar mintage for 1796 and '97 was 3,918 pieces. These coins saw a lot of use, so there are not a great many survivors. Type collector demand is fierce. Those who consigned silver to the first U.S. Mint for coinage mostly wanted silver dollars. Therefore the half dollar mintage was low. When president Thomas Jefferson suspended the mintage of silver dollars, those consignors switched to half dollars which accounts for the much higher mintages staring in 1805.

Comments

  • johnjohn

    I would be very proud to own that coin, with or without any TPG OR 4PG acknowledgement.

  • TheCoinHoundTheCoinHound

    Even knowing how rare these coins are, it's amazing how difficult it is to find a problem free example.

    Check this out for more:

    https://www.ha.com/information/bust-half-dollars-book.s?type=surl-jonamato

  • BillJonesBillJones

    Here is the 1796 Quarter that I had hoped to match with the 1796-7 half dollar. I bought this one in the later 1980s from a bid wall in Boston. The same wall had a second 1796 in higher grade, but with less originality. That one went for more money and was beyond my budget at the time. Within a week a well-known dealer offered me a $500 profit on it, but I held on to it, thank goodness. This piece is now in a PCGS VF-25 holder.


  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    edited December 2021
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • BillJonesBillJones

    When James Ruddy was putting together the group of coins for his first Photo Grade book, he stated that the Draped Bust, Small Eagle coins were the hardest for him to find in the various grades. To round out the types, here are some examples.

    Half Dime, graded NGC AU-53

    Dime graded PCGS AU-50

    Bust Dollar graded PCGS VF-35


Sign In or Register to comment.