By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

Of all early U.S. gold coins (1795-1834), two of the rarest varieties are the 1810 ‘Large Date – Small 5′ and 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagles. These are dramatically rarer than the corresponding 1810 ‘Large Date – Large 5′ and 1810 ‘Small date – Tall 5′ varieties. Does this sound confusing? It should. Many coin collectors, including some who are very advanced, are puzzled by the rarity and significance of these varieties, and fairly wonder whether these are worth bothering with at all. The topic here is the rarity and importance of the 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ $5 gold coin.

Half Eagles are $5 gold coins. An 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagle has ‘made the news’ in a big way. On Aug. 5, Stack’s auctioned one for $126,500, undoubtedly an auction record for this variety. The previous record for an 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ was set when Stack’s auctioned another for $65,550 in October 2005.

It is clear that the rage for early U.S. gold coins continues. This has been one of the hottest areas of coin markets for several years. Even so, an 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ has never before sold for nearly as much, and it is not a coin that many collectors seek. It is important to discuss ‘what it is’ and why it sold for so much. Such an inquiry contributes to an understanding of the values of rare varieties and of early gold coins in general.

This 1810 Half Eagle has been graded AU-55 by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). Coins are graded on a scale from 01 to 70. There are four AU grades: 50, 53, 55, and 58. There are eleven MS grades, all increments from 60 to 70 inclusive. The PCGS and the Numismatic Guaranty Corp. (NGC) have never assigned a grade above 62 to an 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagle. So, a choice uncirculated example may not exist.

The 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ is of the Bust Left Half Eagle type (1807-12). It is a short series. The following dates are certainly included: 1807, 1808/7, 1809/8, 1810 ‘Large Date,’ 1810 ‘Small Date,’ 1811 and 1812. Curiously, additional varieties relating to the denomination on the reverse (back of the coin) are included in most guides as if these are separate dates. As mentioned above, the 1810 ‘Large Date’ is divided into two dates, Large 5 and Small 5. Likewise, the 1810 ‘Small Date’ is so divided into ‘Small 5′ and ‘Tall 5′, as is the 1811. There is no doubt that these are additional die varieties. One die is used to strike the obverse (front of the coin) and a separate die is used to strike the reverse. An 1811 Half Eagle with a ‘Tall 5′ on the reverse was struck from a reverse die that is different from that used to strike an 1811 Half Eagle with a ‘Small 5′ on the reverse. How important is the distinction between different 5s?

The denomination of a Half Eagle is ‘Five Dollar Gold’ and the “5 D.” on the reverse indicates the denomination. Likewise, Draped Bust Half Cents (1800-08) have the denomination “1/200” on the reverse. All Type 2 Liberty Nickels have a Roman Numeral V along with the word “CENTS” on the reverse. Many design types of U.S. coins do not feature a denomination identifier. People who spend coins generally know their face value.

Is a minor difference in the denomination identifier really indicative of a separate date? It is true that the term ‘date’ refers to more than just the year on the coin.

Two coins of the same type and year may have different dates. An 1817 half dollar and an 1817/4 half dollar are of the same year, but are different dates. The term ‘date’ refers to a combination of the year, the characteristics of the digits, and the design type. It also relates to issues regarding Mint locations and mintmarks, but these will be ignored here as all Bust Left Half Eagles were struck in Philadelphia and none have mintmarks.

Small dates, large dates, and overdates, frequently indicate more than one date of the same type with the same year. Likewise, two different types with the same year will amount to at least two different dates. An 1807 Bust Right Half Eagle and an 1807 Bust Left Half Eagle are both different types and different dates.

Even a difference in the digits of a date, such as a fancy ‘2,’ may constitute an additional date relating to the same year. When an overdate (usually featuring one numeral punched over another) is easily seen, it is a distinct date. While the ‘year’ is part of the date, there is much more to the concept of the ‘date’ of a coin.

In order for a second variety of a particular year from a specific Mint to be an additional date, there must be something very different and readily apparent about the numerals in the date, or some difference in the design that can be seen and identified by an intermediate-level collector in a few seconds. It is probably true that the 1810 ‘Large Date’ and the 1810 ‘Small Date’ are clearly different dates, though this point is also debatable. It is true that numerals in each are of significantly different sizes.

Particularly for coins minted before 1834, of all denominations, there are a large number of die varieties, most of which are not separate dates. There are often differences in the sizes and spacing of letters or stars. Leafs, berries, branches, arrows, and other design elements may be slightly different. Most such differences are of interest to people who collect die varieties, or by researchers who seek to identify individual coins. Only a very small percentage of collectors pay attention to die varieties, though most collectors are interested in the distinct dates in at least one series. Even those who collect ‘by type,’ rather than ‘by date,’ still need to know about dates in order to decide how much to pay for coins for their respective type sets.

The pressing question here is whether differences in the size of the numeral 5 (on the reverse) are defining characteristics of separate dates. Essentially, the only noticeable difference between an 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagle and an 1810 ‘Small Date – Tall 5′ is the size and shape of the 5. Very few collectors, even experts, would notice. Even if a ‘Tall 5′ coin and a ‘Small 5′ coin were placed ’side by side,’ the difference is very subtle. The so-called ‘Small 5′ is only slightly shorter than the ‘Tall 5′!

In my view, these ‘Small 5′ Half Eagles should be referred to as die varieties, not additional dates. If the 1810 ‘Large Date – Small 5′ and 1810 ‘Small Date -Small 5′ are truly dates of their own, then these would be the rarest two dates of the Bust Left Half Eagle type; and they would both be Great Rarities that are undervalued in general. I do not believe that most gold coin collectors view them as separate dates. Louis Eliasberg certainly did not think so.

In their encyclopedia of gold coins, Jeff Garrett & Ron Guth boldly state that it is hard to distinguish the four varieties of 1810 Half Eagles (Whitman, 2006, p. 185). Oddly, Garrett & Guth are surprised that the Smithsonian does not contain an 1810 ‘Small 5′ Half Eagle. This indicates that the Lilly collection did not have either of the 1810 ‘Small 5′ varieties, yet Lilly had an epic collection of gold rarities, including some obscure varieties. Josiah Lilly’s collection was donated to the Smithsonian. Curators of the Smithsonian’s coins, and of the Philadelphia Mint collection that preceded it, probably never thought that these 1810 ‘Small 5′ varieties were significant enough to bother acquiring. The absence of these two ‘Small 5′ varieties in the Smithsonian is circumstantial evidence that several prominent experts of the past did not think of the 1810 ‘Small 5s’ as separate dates.

It is shocking that almost all price guides list 1810 ‘Large Date – Large 5′ and the 1810 ‘Small date – Tall 5′ varieties as separate dates, and that the PCGS has assigned separate numbers to them. Such a practice confuses collectors. It is counter-productive to give the impression that subtle die varieties, pertaining only to reverses, are separate dates. Viewing them as separate dates discourages people from collecting Bust Left Half Eagles, which would otherwise be a series that could be ‘completed by date’ by more than seventy-five collectors at a time. Besides, when collectors actually see that the Small 5s are not substantially smaller, they may think that they have been misled.

There is no doubt that Jim Matthews did a thorough job of cataloguing this 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagle. Matthews provides an extensive description, and he puts forth the best effort that I have ever seen at a roster of the surviving examples of this variety. It is strange, though, that Matthews keeps talking about it as if it is a separate date, and asserts, citing John Dannreuther in this regard, that the ‘Small Date – Small 5′ and Large Date – Small 5′ 1810s are the “most sought-after’ Bust Left Half Eagles. They may be marketed to some wealthy buyers, but the ‘Small 5′ varieties are truly and purely ’sought after’ by the ten or fewer people who seriously collect Bust Left Half Eagles by die variety. There has been a marked increase in variety-specific demand. Ten years ago, there were probably only three or four dedicated collectors of Bust Left Half Eagles by die variety.

Why are both 1810 ‘Small 5′ varieties worth so much? Consider the combination of the fact that only ten or fewer people seriously demand them and the extreme rarity of these two varieties. The 1810 ‘Large Date – Small 5′ is even rarer than the 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagle.

Matthews reports communicating with die variety expert John Dannreuther regarding the rarity of 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagles. Dannreuther concurred that his previous estimate of twenty-five to thirty known should be reduced to match Matthews’ estimate of twenty.

This estimate of twenty is unsubstantiated, and puzzling. As of 1988, Walter Breen had not even seen eight. Matthews lists seventeen, but illogically, he itemizes each submission to PCGS or NGC as if it is a separate coin. In fairness, Matthews repeatedly states that many of the known coins may have been “upgraded” to higher certified grades and thus counted more than once in his list. Indeed, it seems that a few coins may have been counted two or three times in his list. Also, Matthews ignores that Garrett & Guth (Whitman, 2006, p. 185) “suspect” that all three certified MS-62 grade 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagles are “a single coin.”

I suggest that the eleven 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagles that have been certified by PCGS and NGC amount to five to eight different coins. There are two known that would not qualify for PCGS or NGC certification. Is there convincing evidence of any others existing? Maybe Dannreuther knows of one or two others that he has not revealed in publications? Of course, it is plausible that there are a few unknown pieces. An estimate of seven to fourteen in existence would be sensible.

This just auctioned 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagle is undoubtedly among the most attractive of the seven to fourteen known. Light green tints and russet patches blend well with the dominant orange-yellow color. While it has its share of technical imperfections, it has plenty of pizzazz and personality. It is a sparkling coin that really grabs the viewer’s attention.

Why did it sell for $126,500? Imagine that this coin had a ‘Tall 5′ rather than a ‘Small 5′! If so, it would have sold for less than $15,000.

There are fewer than ten people who collect Bust Left Half Eagles by die variety and maybe fewer than ten 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagles in existence. A few of the owners of the others are probably not people who collect Bust Left Half Eagles by die variety, or even ‘by date.’ There are a lot of collectors who enjoy owning rare or unusual items. Essentially, they buy them just for fun. They might not even bother to compare a ‘Tall 5′ to a ‘Small 5.’ Likewise, rising prices of early gold coins have been magnets for speculators, who have, in turn, contributed to the demand. Many speculators spend more time looking at price guides than at coins. Some speculators just listen to salespeople. I suggest that buyers formulate collecting strategies, and think carefully about how particular coins fit into their respective collections.

The point that some of the 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagles may be owned by people who are not systematically collecting die varieties could mean that there are even fewer available for those who do. It is understood that collectors who acquire assorted unusual and interesting coins, rather than aiming to complete sets, are always important factors in coin markets. I am concerned that the demand for this ‘Small 5′ variety has been influenced and re-shaped by coin buyers who mistakenly think that it is a separate date. Even so, the core of the demand, for this variety, may remain dedicated die variety collectors, however few in number, and, hopefully, they are largely responsible for the $126,500 auction result for this piece. It is one of the finest and may be the most attractive 1810 ‘Small Date – Small 5′ Half Eagle!

© 2007 Greg Reynolds

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