1797 Draped Bust Half Dollar. Small Eagle. O-101a, T-1. Rarity-4+. VF-30 (PCGS). OGH.

1797 Draped Bust Half Dollar. Small Eagle. O-101a, T-1. Rarity-4+. VF-30 (PCGS). OGH.，This is an original, well balanced Choice VF representative of the brief and rare Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dollar type of 1796 to 1797. Exhibiting bold charcoal-gray and warmer golden-russet patina, both sides are remarkably smooth for an early U.S. Mint silver coin that saw this level of circulation. There are few significant abrasions. The strike is expertly centered within uniformly denticulated borders, and the devices retain ample sharpness of detail within the recessed areas of the design. Tompkins Die Stage 3/4.<p>The 1797 half dollar is an enigmatic issue as well as an extremely rare one. Echoing the symbolism portrayed by the flag of the United States, the earliest silver and gold coins of the U.S. Mint had star counts that attempted to mirror the number of states in the Union at the time of striking. The half dollars of 1794 and 1795 display 15 stars on the obverse -- a number justified by Kentuckys admission on June 1, 1792. In anticipation of 1796s half dollar mintage, officials prepared a 1796-dated obverse die with 15 stars, though no half dollars were struck that year. However, by the time mintage for this denomination resumed in early 1797, Tennessee had joined the Union on June 1 of the previous year and a 16-star motif was more appropriate. Never to be wasteful, the Mint employed this wrongly dated and wrongly starred obverse, resulting in the 1796 O-101 15 Stars half dollar. After employing a 16-star obverse die later in 1797 to mark the entry of Tennessee (1796 O-102 and O-102a), Mint officials began to realize that the obverses of silver coins were growing crowded and the plan to add additional stars as subsequent states joined the Union was flawed. The 1797-dated half dollars (O-101, O-101a and O-102) returned, anachronistically, to the 15-star arrangement, possibly because that obverse die had been made in 1796 but just awaited the placement of the date. After this, all future half dollars would include just 13 obverse stars, representing the original states.<p><p>Although not widely recognized by collectors who focus on the varying number of obverse stars, the half dollars of 1796 and 1797 display a second anomaly that can be observed on the reverse. While the use of a fraction to represent a coins denomination is familiar to early copper enthusiasts, silver and gold coins of the era bear no reference to their monetary worth apart from a mention on the coins third side -- the edge. For the precious metal issues of 1794 and 1795, size and weight were the primary distinguishing characteristics between denominations. Researcher Steve Tompkins (<em>Early United States Half Dollars: Volume 1, 1794-1807</em>, 2015) speculates that it was the introduction of the quarter in 1796 that prompted the inclusion of the fractional denomination 1/2 on the reverse of the half dollars of the same vintage. This notion of deliberateness is substantiated by the fact that once the initial fractioned reverse of the Draped Bust, Small Eagle type was retired, it was replaced by another reverse that also exhibits the fractional denomination, dispelling the likelihood that the feature was initially added in error. That lone replacement die was used solely in the 1797 O-102 pairing and when half dollar production resumed in 1801, the newly introduced Heraldic Eagle reverse motif did away with a stated denomination.<p>The total mintage for the Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dollar type of 1796 to 1797 is just 3,918 coins. The typical five to six percent survival rate of early U.S. Mint silver coins would amount to somewhere around 200 specimens extant in all grades, which supports contemporary population estimates. The vast majority of known 1796 and 1797 half dollars are heavily worn, and many are also significantly impaired due to surface damage, cleaning and other problems. Such is the demand from type collectors, however, that even nearly smooth examples and ones with heavy damage bring tens of thousands of dollars. As a solid mid-grade survivor, and with richly original surfaces and above average preservation for the assigned grade, the coin we offer here would make an impressive addition to any advanced collection.，Ex S.H. and H. Chapmans sale of the Harlan P. Smith Collection, May 1906, lot 579; Henry Chapman; Henry Chapmans Matthew A. Stickney Collection sale, June 1907, lot 930; Thomas L. Elder; our (Stacks) session of Auction 79, July 1979, lot 609; Dr. George F. Oviedo, Jr.; our (Stacks) sale of the Oviedo Collection, September 1983, lot 727; Anthony Terranova, August 1991, to the present consignor.，