1797

The 1797 closes the Small Eagle reverse run at the Philadelphia Mint and is the final year Robert Scot's naturalistic perched-eagle design appears on the half dollar denomination before a four-year production hiatus and the eventual switch to the Heraldic Eagle reverse in 1801. Combined 1796-1797 Small Eagle output recorded in Mint Director's reports comes to roughly 3,918 pieces total across all three Small Eagle entries, an extraordinarily small figure even by the standards of the early Philadelphia operation. The coin uses the same 412.5-grain, .8924 fine silver standard established by the April 2, 1792 Coinage Act, and the edge carries the lettered legend FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR applied by Castaing machine before striking.

Surviving population for the 1797 sits in the same narrow band as its two 1796 counterparts, with PCGS and NGC combined pop reports placing the date in the low triple digits across all grades and Mint State holders measured in single digits per service. Strike characteristics typical of these late Small Eagle dies include softness on the eagle's breast feathers, weak definition on the upper curls of Liberty's hair, and occasional die clashing where the obverse and reverse hubs contacted each other without an intervening planchet. Adjustment marks, the parallel file lines applied to overweight planchets to bring them onto the legal weight tolerance before striking, are common and represent original Mint production rather than damage. Counterfeit detection rests on confirming weight at approximately 13.48 grams, verifying the lettered edge is intact and unaltered, and matching die characteristics against published Overton plates.

Collectors typically treat the 1797 as part of a tightly grouped trio with the two 1796 obverses, since the three issues function together as the only Small Eagle Draped Bust half dollars ever struck. Circulated examples trade in the high five figures with choice grades reaching well into six figures, and the original-skin premium over cleaned or retoned survivors is substantial. The four-year gap that followed, during which no half dollars at all left the Philadelphia Mint, makes this coin the design's last word before resumption. For the broader story of Robert Scot's design, the Small Eagle to Heraldic Eagle transition, and the series' production arc, see the Draped Bust Half Dollar series history.