Description
1813 Capped Head Left Half Eagle, BD-2, PCGS AU55
This coin is an attractive specimen, with sharp strike details throughout. The surfaces are light yellow-gold, with a faint rose patina. Trace amounts of original mint luster are present under the patina with some heavy marks on the obverse face of Miss Liberty.
A huge mintage of 95,428 half eagles was produced in 1813, the first year of the new design featuring the smaller bust. There are only two die varieties known for the date. The present coin represents the less-available BD-2 variety, characterized by the placement of the first S in STATES nearly centered over the E in the ribbon. JD Dannreuther believes the original mintage of the BD-2 was on the order of 15,000-25,000 pieces, with about 150-200 examples surviving today. The issue is quite scarce at the AU55 level and a nice example of a great type half eagle.
