Half Eagles
1795 $5 Small Eagle PCGS MS62
Written/Compiled by Dennis
Hengeveld
The five dollar gold piece dated 1795 with the
heraldic eagle reverse is a curious and enigmatic issue. The
new reverse design was not introduced in mid 1797, so these
coins were already backdated two full years before they were
struck. The reason for their existence is a story of
economical reasons, yellow fever and carelessness from Mint
employees. Three different varieties are known of this
issue, with the following rarity ratings as listed by
Bass-Dannreuther in their reference on early American gold
coinage:
BD-13: Unique
BD-14: R-6+ (14-18 known)
BD-15: R-5+ (30-35 known)
Used for coinage of this issue were three
different obverses and two different reverses. All of
the
obverses had previously been used to strike small eagle
varieties, which had been first struck in 1795. All uses
of
these dies for striking heraldic eagle reverse coins
appear
to have occurred after all small eagle coins had been
struck. However, it would not come as a complete
surprise
when a heraldic eagle coin is found with the obverse in
an
earlier die state then on the small eagle variety with
the
same obverse. All obverses show obvious die rust in the
fields, indicating that they had been in storage for
some
time, and not carefully stored as would be necessary to
keep
the dies in good condition. This could be because the
dies
were no longer meant for coinage, but with the high
costs of
coinage dies this seems unlikely. The true cause appears
to
be the yellow fever epidemic of 1797.
The exact mintage of this variety is unknown.
Some sources say that the total mintage was as low as 500
pieces, but based on the quantity of pieces known a number
closer to 1,500 might be more correct. Even with the latter
number correct this remains an extremely low mintage, and it
is not surprising that this is a rare issue which is not
offered at the public market with any regularity. Despite
the numbers listed above some sources quote the number of
pieces known as low as 35, or as high as 50. This will also
remain to be a point of discussion which will continue when
more pieces are discovered and brought to light in the
numismatic community.
The annual outbreak of yellow lever in Philadelphia in
1797 was bad, but not as severe as it had been in 1793.
Yet, it was more than enough to close down operations at
the Mint, halting coinage operations and playing a large
role in mintage of coins that year. Yellow fever was a
large problem in 18th century life, and outbreaks were
common in cities like Philadelphia. It is a viral
infection which is borne by mosquitos. It causes
jaundice, which is clearly visible as the person
infected will turn yellow because of liver injury (hence
the name). While it can still not be cured by
medication, some people survive. Yet, in the late 1700s
the number of survivors was extremely small, and with
the vaccine not discovered until 1937 the disease was
extremely dangerous. In an 1855 book about the history
of the disease up to that point in Philadelphia the
following has been written about the outbreak of that
year:
“1797.—Very different was the extent of the
prevalence of yellow fever in the year succeeding to
that
last mentioned. On this occasion, it once more assumed
the
character of an epidemic, less extensive and fatal,
doubtless, than that of 1793 and some that followed, but
of
sufficient severity to merit a somewhat detailed
notice.”
After the yellow fever epidemic there was an
urgent need for production of gold coinage at the Mint. The
dies that were put in storage following the outbreak of the
fever re-entered storage, and it appears that during this
time in late 1797 or early 1798 this rarity was created.
Because of the haste in production quality control was not
as strict as usually, neither was the striking quality. As
such, many pieces show weakly struck centers, even when in
uncirculated condition or in a relative early die state.
These Mint State pieces are somewhat more available than
similar issues of the same era, even in MS-63 and MS-64
condition. Yet, it remains a rare coin in any grade, and
even in circulated condition this is a true trophy coin to
hold. One with a special story to tell, that’s certainly for
sure.
