1798 Small Eagle, 13 Stars

The 1798 Small Eagle 13 Stars Draped Bust Dollar is the final-year Small Eagle reverse type, struck at the Philadelphia Mint early in 1798 before the mid-year transition to the new Heraldic Eagle reverse. The 1798 Small Eagle 13 Stars combines the Small Eagle reverse used since 1795 with an obverse carrying 13 stars representing the original colonies, marking the Mint's return to the 13-star convention after the brief 1797 16-star Tennessee-admission arrangement. The 1798 combined annual mintage was 327,536 pieces across all Small Eagle and Heraldic Eagle varieties.

Strike quality on the 1798 Small Eagle 13 Stars varies across the production, with central definition on Liberty and the eagle softening on later die states. Most surviving examples grade VG to VF from heavy circulation in the late 1790s and early 1800s, with PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations clustering at F and VF. Mint State examples are genuinely rare at all levels, with MS63 and above among the trophy pickups of the Small Eagle subset. Die marriages are catalogued by the Bowers-Borckardt (BB) attribution system, with the 1798 Small Eagle 13 Stars representing the closing Small Eagle die marriages before the Heraldic Eagle transition.

The 1798 Small Eagle 13 Stars is a Semi-Key issue and one of the most-collected closing-year Small Eagle Draped Bust Dollars. Pricing trades at meaningful premiums above the more common 1798 Heraldic Eagle varieties at every grade, reflecting both type-closing significance and the small surviving population. The 1798 Small Eagle 13 Stars pairs with the 1798 Small Eagle 15 Stars and the 1798 Large Eagle as the matched 1798 Small Eagle and Heraldic Eagle transition trio. Authentication concerns center on cleaning, polishing, edge damage, and counterfeit detection; certified slabs from PCGS or NGC with BB die-marriage attribution noted on the holder are essential at any meaningful price level. For the Small Eagle to Heraldic Eagle reverse transition history, see the Draped Bust Dollar series history.