1802/1 $5 Draped Bust Half Eagle, BD-7 PCGS AU58

This enchanting piece, with its iconic design, features beautiful rich golden orange coloration. The strong, very noticeable overdate is due to the use of leftover obverse dies from the previous year that have a '2' punched over the last digit of the date '1801.'

From its mintage of 53,176, there have been 351 graded by PCGS in total, pointing to its great rarity. Of those, there are 61 graded AU58, with 121 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $20,000 in AU58. But these statistics represent ALL varieties for the date...the BD-7 is far lower than that. This is a very desirable example for the specialist in early U.S. gold coinage.

Of the eight known die marriages of the 1802 half eagle, all are overdates, and BD-7 is among the scarcer marriages. Based on the number of coins extant, John W. Dannreuther (Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties: A Study of Die States, 1795-1834, 2006) believes that the reported mintage of 53,176 pieces for calendar year 1802 roughly approximates the number of half eagles struck from 1802-dated dies. The author further opines that 3,000 to 6,000 examples were coined from the BD-7 die pairing, survivors numbering just 50 to 65 pieces in all grades. While this is a small total in an absolute sense, to be sure, it is actually fairly generous by early half eagle standards. Attractive Choice AU survivors such as this are particularly rare and enjoy their greatest potential as superior quality type coins for inclusion in advanced gold cabinets.

Overdate detail of the 1802/1 $5 Draped Bust, courtesy of PCGS Coinfacts.

Why the 1802/1 $5 Draped Bust is so rare

Gold coins were undervalued from 1794 to 1834 and thus became de facto bullion, resulting in gold vanishing from our shores. A House committee report from 1819 tells us, "Gold is estimated below its fair relative value, in comparison with silver and ... can scarcely be considered as having formed a material part of our money circulation for the last twenty-six years [since 1793].”

Mint Director Samuel Moore stated in 1832: "Gold at present constitutes no part of our currency; and not having, within any recent period, performed in the United States the office of coin, it has not been the standard of value assumed in existing contracts." Gold was brought to the Philadelphia Mint in the form of bullion and foreign coins. After it was minted into U.S. coins, they were mostly exported to Europe. The rare survivors, such as this offering from AUCM, were probably stored in the First Bank of the United States.