Lot 2387
1798/7 $10 Capped Bust. 9 stars left, 4 right. . T-9, High Rarity 4. PCGS graded MS-62. Encased in PCGS holder 10757716. A fully lustrous example with only the faintest of horizontal adjustment marks thru the center portions of the obverse. Only 900 minted. Of that, a tiny number of survivors, exceedingly few in fact, are in mint state, with the remainder scattered in the Very Fine to About Uncirculated grade ranges. The obverse and reverse of this piece present a balanced composition. The obverse is sharply struck throughout the hair and cap with excellent stars and rim dentils. Luster, while subdued, is satin-like and fresh golden color. The reverse, reminiscent of the obverse, is certainly just as sharply defined with nice frosty luster. As readers can clearly see in the photograph, the eagle's wings are well brought up and only a little breast feather definition over the shield is lacking, as usual. The date is of great importance to the advanced collector. In choice Mint State 62, it becomes a landmark offering never to be overlooked. A moster coin! PCGS Pop 1; none finer. (PCGS # 8560) .
Minor change came with the eagles of 1798. The expansion of the Union was at such a pace as to threaten to overwhelm coinage designs in the future if a star was added to the design for each new state. This led the Mint director to order a standardization of stars to 13 (for the original Colonies), beginning in 1798 on the eagle.
Two arrangements of stars are found in 1798, one die with nine left and four right, and one die with seven and six. All of the 1798 eagles are actually overdates: 1798/7, with the 8 punched into the die over a 7. No perfect date 1798 capped bust eagles are known.
The total mintage of 900 1798/7 capped bust eagles with the 9x4 star arrangement makes this the second rarest of the capped bust eagles by mintage. Long considered to be very rare, enough recent appearances seem to support a population of closer to 100 rather than Breen's suggested 18-20 known (per his Encyclopedia).
Estimated Value $150,000 - 175,000.
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| Realized $218,500 |
