Owner Comments:
With a mintage of 668,203 one would think that the Capped Bust Reduced Diameter half eagle would be a challenging but “doable” type coin. In fact this type coin is rare, and finding an example in any grade is very difficult. David Bowers in his Guide Book of United States Type Coins estimated that the total surviving population for the type ranged from 475 to 750 pieces. At the highest level of that range, that places the survival rate for this type at just over one tenth of one percent of the original mintage. Included in that range are many pieces that have been damaged under normal circumstances or ruined by numismatic abuse, which includes cleaning and polishing.
From 1821 to the middle of 1834 when the Classic Head $5 gold coins were introduced gold coins of this type did not circulate within The United States. Soon after the coins were minted almost all of them were used in the export trade where they were quickly melted once they reached their foreign destinations. The reason for this was that the melt value for these coins exceeded their face value.
The coins feature the basic designs that John Reich introduced in 1807 modified by William Kneass. They were the first $5 gold coins that were definitely struck with a closed collar, which imparted the reeded edge at the same time that the coin was made. As such these coins were the first truly modern United States $5 gold pieces.
The coin above has attractive, lustrous surfaces with scattered marks that are consistent with the MS-61 grade. This piece has the plain 4 in the date, and the Dannreuther – Bass variety number for the piece is 1834, BD-1. John Dannreuther estimates that 30 to 40 examples of this variety are known, which makes it one of the more common varieties in the series.