1807 Draped Bust

The 1807 Draped Bust half eagle closes a thirteen-year run for Robert Scot's design and marks the terminal year of the type before John Reich's new Capped Bust Left portrait took over the denomination later in the same calendar year. Philadelphia delivered 32,488 pieces under the older obverse before the changeover, and Bass-Dannreuther catalogues the run across roughly eight die marriages until the engraving department transitioned to Reich's cap-and-curls portrait. The Capped Bust Left 1807 strikes are catalogued separately in their own series, so a Draped Bust 1807 carries the weight of being the last coin off the line for an obverse adapted from Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Ann Willing Bingham, paired with the Heraldic Eagle reverse modeled on the Great Seal. For a type set, this date is the most accessible way to anchor a Scot Draped Bust half eagle without the brutal premiums attached to the 1795 to 1799 dates.

Authentication starts with confirming the obverse design itself. A genuine 1807 Draped Bust shows Liberty in flowing drapery with her hair tied back by a ribbon, never the soft cloth cap that defines the Capped Bust Left companion strike. Specifications follow the 1792 Coinage Act standard at 8.75 grams in 0.9167 fine gold, roughly 25 millimeters across, with a reeded edge and rotated coin alignment. A Bass-Dannreuther die marriage attribution by BD number gives raw examples a defensible anchor. Counterfeit risk skews toward cast pieces, which betray themselves through grainy field texture, mushy device edges, and weight outside the published tolerance, so a calibrated scale check is the first line of defense.

For modern collectors the 1807 sits in Semi-Key territory inside the Heraldic Eagle Draped Bust series, the most available date inside its own thirteen-year window but still scarce in absolute terms. Bass-Dannreuther estimates surviving population in the range of 800 to 1500 examples when every die marriage is counted together, which keeps a steady supply moving through major auctions. Problem-free pieces in Fine through Extremely Fine clear consistent numbers, and About Uncirculated or Mint State survivors with original surfaces command firm premiums when they appear. Provenance through the Bass, Pogue, or Eliasberg cabinets adds material weight at every grade band. See the full Draped Bust Half Eagle series history.