By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

Half Eagles dated 1796/5 are always popular with collectors. A ‘date’ is different from a ‘year.’ The term ‘date’ has a special meaning in the field of coin collecting, and the 1796/5 half eagle is an overdate that is a ‘date’! As it happens, it is the only date in the $5 gold series of the year ‘1796.’ There is not a ‘normal date’ 1796 half eagle. If there were, then 1796 and 1796/5 would be different dates!

Half Eagles dated 1796/5 are ‘in the news’ as B&M just auctioned two in Baltimore on March 20th, and the Goldbergs auctioned one in February. As 1796/5 half eagles are very rare, the appearance of three high-grade examples at auction in less than six weeks is extraordinary.

United States $5 gold coins are termed ‘half eagles.’ These were first minted in 1795. Except for some non-proof commemoratives minted since 1986, business strike half eagles were last made in 1929. Proof and non-proof commemorative half eagles are a separate topic.

What is curious about 1796/5 half eagles? First, all 1796 half eagles are overdates. Second, there is strong demand for this particular date, even though it is extremely difficult to collect early half eagles ‘by date.’ Third, most of the greatest collections of all time did not contain a choice uncirculated 1796/5 half eagle, and several were missing this date altogether! Fourth, there are scant auction records of choice uncirculated examples, and some of the few that supposedly exist seem to have spent their whole lives in the shadows. Fifth, 1796 half eagles are the object of special demand by collectors of 1796-year sets. Sixth, although there is strong demand for 1796/5 half eagles, these get very little attention in auction catalogues, in conversations, or in the media. Collectors tend to focus on the 1795 half eagles, and there is much talk about the 1798 ‘Small Eagle,’ which is a Great Rarity. (more…)