1806/5 Half Dollar - 1806/5 50C NGC AU53. This eye-appealing, scarce 1806/5 Half Dollar has significant mint luster remaining within the devices. The coin shows a tan-gold toning towards the rims with hints of rainbow toning at the very edge. The devices are mainly white with silvery highlights. These colors attest to the coins originality. The surfaces are clean for the grade with no notable individual abrasion marks or other distractions. The strike is above average, especially for this date, with full details on much of Libertys hair and drapery, the shield, and the eagles wings. 

The coin is identified as O-103. The obverse shows large stars. Star 12 is recut and has a broken point near the highest point of Star 13. The date is 9 millimeters wide with the 0 and 6 very close. The bottom of the 0 is recut. The top of a 5 is visible near the top of the 6. There is a die crack from the rim, through Star 1 to the curls. The reverse has narrow milling. The point of Star 12 is attached to the eagles beak. There are 5 berries, but only the lower two below the branch have stems. The point of a leaf seems to touch the lower right base of the I in AMERICA. The right base of the F in OF is missing. There is a small die lump under the right side of the R in AMERICA.

The Draped Bust Large Eagle or Heraldic Eagle Reverse was made from 1801 to 1807. The design shows a draped bust of Liberty in profile facing right. Above is the word LIBERTY, and below is the date. Seven six-pointed stars are to the left and six are to the right. The portrait, taken from a drawing by the famous artist Gilbert Stuart, is of Ann Bingham. John Eckstein translated this drawing to models for Engraver Robert Scot. Evidently Eckstein made the models poorly, which might explain why Stuarts family refused to acknowledge his role in the coinage design. The large eagle or heraldic eagle reverse shows the eagle with up stretched wings and a Union shield on its breast. A banner inscribed E PLURIBUS UNUM curls across the left wing and under the right. Except for the wing tips, the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc near the periphery. Thirteen stars are above the eagles head under the clouds. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin. The edge is lettered FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR with ornamentation between the words.

In what some believe to have been a colossal design blunder, Robert Scot placed the arrows in the wrong talon. On the left side, the eagles right talon, arrows symbolize aggressive militarism. They should have been placed in the left talon with the olive branch in the right. If this was a deliberate rearrangement, it shows a young country making a statement about its sovereignty in a time of war. If it was unintentional, it shows a new, inexperienced country that cant even get its symbolism correct.

In its population report, NGC shows 3 1806/5 O-103s in AU53 condition with 5 better. At PCGS this coin is tied with 1 other for the finest known of this variety.