Lot 1230
1798 $10 Capped Bust. 8 over 7. 9 stars left, 4 right. PCGS graded AU-53 PQ. A faint hairline through the ear and lovelock, but well preserved surfaces for the most part. Luster is found everywhere around the devices and extending partway into the fields on both sides. The devices, while not razor-sharp, are detailed enough and have perfect balance, to delight the connoisseur in every buyer of rare date gold. The 1798, 8 over 7 with the 7 x 6 star arrangement is the second rarest eagle in the entire series, second only to the 1795 9 Leaves variety. A total of 842 pieces were struck before the dies broke, and the most recent estimate of the number of survivors is a slim 15 coins (per Anthony Taraszka). This is the #2 coin on Taraszka's roster of Significant Specimens, and significant it is in this outstanding About Uncirculated grade! (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, the commoner die with nine left and four right, and this rarer variety 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 842 1798/7 capped bust eagles makes this the rarest of the capped bust eagles by mintage. Both obverse dies broke early, likely accounting for the cessation of production after so few were made, according to Breen. He estimated that fewer than 50 pieces survive from the two obverse dies. Pop 4; 8 in 55, 4 in 58, 2 in 61.
Estimated Value $55,000 - 60,000.
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