1799 Half Eagle - 1799 $5 Small Stars Reverse, PCGS AU55. BD-6, R5. Here is a rare, lightly circulated 1799 Small Stars Half Eagle with an above average strike. Good detail is present on Libertys hair, a couple of the obverse stars, the upper part of the shield, the lower part of the eagles neck, and the wings. Just a touch of wear is present on the highest points of the coin. The surfaces are original and clean for the grade with no individually distracting abrasion marks, and there are no adjustment marks. Except for the upper left on both sides, the dentils are full. Significant, bright mint luster remains within the devices.

The coin is identified as BD-6 because there is a wide date with the last 9 recut on its lower right. The first 9 is as low as the 7, and the last 9 is higher. It is recut because it was previously punched to the right. The reverse has small stars in an even arc pattern. The upright of E in STATES is over the space between two clouds. There is a die crack from the rim to the lower left part of A in STATES.

The obverse design shows Liberty facing right. Below her is the date which is off center to the left. Between the date and the word LIBERTY on the left side of the coin are eight stars. Five stars follow LIBERTY down to the bust. Liberty wears a large, soft cap. Her hair flows down and also shows on her forehead. The design was probably taken from a Roman engraving of a Greek goddess. Libertys cap was certainly not a Phrygian or liberty cap. The liberty cap, emblematic of freedom, was worn by freed slaves and freed gladiators in Roman times. It was a close fitting cap used to cover a shorn head, which was one of the way slaves were identified.

The oversized cap worn by Liberty has been called a turban, and the design has been called the Turban Head because of it. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle. However, Scot mixed up the positions of the arrows and olive branch. The arrows held in the wrong claw signify defiant militarism. Either Scot made an error copying the image of the Great Seal, or he deliberately changed the symbolism. Perhaps the design was a warning to France, with whom the United States was engaged in an undeclared naval war, and others to be mindful of the new countrys sovereignty. In the field above the eagle are thirteen stars and above them, seven clouds.

A banner from wing to wing has the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. The early half eagle coins have no denomination because gold was valued by its weight and fineness as was the European coinage of the time. Dentils are at the periphery of both the obverse and reverse of these coins, and the edge is reeded.

There are two varieties of this coin, with large and small stars. The Large Star variety is by far the more common. The present coin is the more rare Small Star variety.

Thomas Jefferson chose Robert Scot to be the first Chief Engraver of the United States Mint on November 23, 1793. Scot was born in 1744 in Edinburgh, Scotland or England. (Documentary evidence is lacking as to where he was born.)  He was trained as a watchmaker in England and learned engraving afterwards. He moved to the United States in 1777, where he worked as an engraver of plates, bills of exchange, and office scales. During the Revolution, he was an engraver of paper money. In 1780 he was made the State Engraver of Virginia. He moved to Philadelphia the next year. He was appointed Chief Engraver of the United States Mint on November 23, 1793 by David Rittenhouse, Mint Director. His salary in 1795 was 1,200 per year.

The Mint Director received only $800 dollars per year more. Scots ability to make dies was limited, and he was advanced in years with failing eyesight. His work was somewhat less than that done in Europe at the time, and Scot was criticized for its poor quality. He was responsible for designs of most of Americas first coins. These include the Flowing Hair and the Draped Bust motifs used on the early silver coins, and the gold quarter eagle, half eagle and eagle. Scot also designed the 1794-1797 half-cent, the 1800-1808 draped bust half cent, and the Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal. Scot died on November 1, 1823 and was succeeded by William Kneass as Chief Engraver.

The 1799 half eagle had a mintage of 7,451, which includes both large and small reverse stars varieties, making it rare in all conditions. In its population report, PCGS shows 13 1799 Small Stars Reverse in AU55 with 30 better. NGC has 1 1799 Half Eagle Small Stars Reverse in AU55 with 6 better. These numbers do not account for crossovers or resubmissions. However, neither grading service differentiates this date by die variety. Dannreuther and Bass say that the BD-6 has a rarity of R5, which means that only 40 to 50 pieces are known to exist today in all grades.