1798 Half Eagle - Allegedly produced in one of the most interesting coinage years for Half Eagles ever, the 1798 half eagle ($5 gold piece) with the large eagle or heraldic eagle reverse is a very enigmatic issue. Its mintage is usually quoted to be 24,867 pieces for circulation, but we are unsure if that number actually is correct. This can be blamed on the many different issues the early United States Mint produced in Philadelphia, and the lack of sufficient contemporary resources to determine exact mintages of certain issues. Yet, from the estimated number of pieces known for this issue and the frequency of auction appearances it seems that the number mentioned above could very well be right in the ballpark.

According to the Bass-Dannreuther reference, which has become the main work on the subject of all early gold denominations, there are a total of seven different varieties. These were struck from six different obverses combined with seven different reverses, ranging in rarity from R-4+ (75 to 150 known) to R-7 (4 to 12 known). Since the publication of the reference a lot of attention has been given to the individual varieties of the early American gold coinage. Further attention is given to individual die states of the dies, which is very interesting the determine the emissions sequences of certain years. However, it remains extremely difficult to acquire even a full set of die varieties, regardless of die state for a single date, so most specialized collectors will collect one of the major varieties of this date:

• Large 8 in date
• Small 8 in date
• 14 stars on reverse

While differences in date size are frequently found on early American coinage, as all numerals were hand made and punched on the die, the 14 star reverse is more interesting. It can readily identified by an extra star above the eagle’s head of the reverse. For further verification it shows a large 8 in the date, and could also be placed as a subvariety within that group. Its mintage has been estimated to have been between 2,500 and 3,500 pieces, with an estimated three dozen to fifty pieces currently known in all grades at most. The obverse die remained in more or less perfect state through out the striking, but the reverse die seems to have cracked soon after the minting was initiated and virtually every known specimen shows one or more die cracks on the reverse. The die was lapped to remove the cracks from the surface of the coin, but soon afterwards more cracks appeared and the die was retired after that. The obverse die continued to strike a single other variety afterwards but started to crack as well and was retired and (presumably) destroyed after 5-7,000 more 1798 half eagles had been struck.

Regardless of variety, this remains a rare issue, especially in higher grades and undamaged condition. Many 1798 half eagle pieces have been cleaned over the years, and while they are still in demand they are not as difficult to find as truly original pieces. Uncirculated examples are even rarer for any of the varieties, although the majority of all coins of this date are representatives of the large 8, 13 reverse stars variety. As such, any opportunity to buy a high end About Uncirculated or Uncirculated 1798 half eagle ($5 gold piece) with the large eagle reverse should be considered with great care.

We at U.S. Rare Coin Investments highly recommend these coins for investments portfolios. Whether a single coin or the long term acquisition of them with the goal of building a set in terms of historical importances as well as longterm profit potential, cannot be overstated in our opinion.