1796 6 Over 5, Small Eagle

Every 1796 half eagle is an overdate. There is no clean 1796 issue; the only obverse die used that year began life as a 1795 working die, and an engraver punched a fresh 6 directly over the existing 5 rather than prepare new dies for the second year of half eagle production. The Mint was less than four years old, hand-cut dies were costly, and gold deposits arrived faster than the engraving department could keep pace. The result is the 1796/5 Small Eagle, cataloged as Bass-Dannreuther 1 and the sole die marriage for the date. Mint Report figures place output at 6,196 pieces, all sharing this overdate obverse paired with a Small Eagle reverse adapted from Robert Scot's 1795 hub, the naturalistic bird on a palm wreath that would carry forward only through 1798.

Authentication centers on the date itself. Under five to ten power magnification, the original 5 should be visible inside or beneath the loop of the 6, with the strongest traces along the upper left curve and through the lower interior. Early die-state examples show the underdate plainly; later strikes preserve only faint remnants. Specifications follow the 1792 Coinage Act standard at 8.75 grams of 0.9167 fine gold, roughly 25 millimeters in diameter, with a reeded edge and rotated coin alignment. Any 1796 half eagle on a plain or lettered edge is wrong on its face, and the reverse must show the small naturalistic eagle on the wreath, not the shield-breasted Heraldic Eagle that arrives later in this series. Pedigree carries unusual weight at this rarity tier; cabinet history through Bass, Eliasberg, Pittman, or Garrett supplies provenance that surviving paperwork can corroborate.

For modern collectors the 1796/5 sits firmly in headline territory. Population estimates across PCGS and Bass-Dannreuther converge near 100 to 150 examples in all grades combined, with the bulk falling between Very Fine and Extremely Fine. About Uncirculated and Mint State pieces are scarce enough that auction appearances generate their own news cycles, and high-grade certified examples have crossed into the mid six figures. Because 1796/5 is the only 1796 issue, every collector building a date set of early gold half eagles must acquire one, which keeps competition strong even in lower grades. See the full Draped Bust Half Eagle series history.