1796/5 Draped Bust Half Dime, Mint State-64 (PCGS)
Logan-McCloskey 2, Second Finest Known, Ex Eliasberg

Logan-McClockey 2 - 1796 over 1795, with remains of a 5 clearly visible under the 6. LI of LIBERTY apart. Reverse with lowest outside berry at left between NI. (Rarity 6)

The strike is nearly full, with Liberty's drapery bold, stars sharp, and the eagle's feathers finely detailed. Some faint hairlines and tiny contact marks are visible under a strong glass, but fade into the toning to an unaided eye. A short, dull scratch from the back of Liberty's hair ribbon to star 7 is the most prominent. Several vertical adjustment marks are present through the central obverse, a characteristic that seems to plague this issue. The color is a natural grayish gold, amber, and rose, with iridescent blue and green about much of the rims.

This is the only MS-64 certified by PCGS, trailed by a very flat and heavily adjusted MS63 (See ANR 3/2004: Lot 472), and second finest known overall behind the PCGS/NGC MS66 ("F.U.N. 2008", Heritage 1/2008:2743 @ $345,000 as PCGS MS66 #10855119). While overshadowed by the larger denominations of this design, Small Eagle Half Dimes are rarely offered in the Mint State grades. Published price guides, while they are slowly catching up, do not accurately reflect trading levels for this type, let alone this overdate, as there have been few public sales to report. From my experience with private transactions, accurate type coin prices for Mint State Small Eagle Half Dimes are $30,000 to $35,000 for PCGS MS63, $50,000 to $60,000 for PCGS MS64, and $100,000+ for PCGS MS65, with the flat 1797s dragging down the low end. Additionally, 1796/5 Half Dimes are one of the rarest issues of the Small Eagle design, regardless of denomination, with an estimated surviving population of less than 30 coins including all grades.

Provenance:

• E.S. Norris (Samuel H. and Henry Chapman 5/1894) [B&M]
• J.M. and John H. Clapp (Morton and J.B. Stack privately, 1942)
• Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. (Bowers and Merena 5/1996: Lot 895 as "MS-61/62. Minor adjustment marks on the obverse.")
• ONR Private Client