Half-Eagle, 1797, capped bust of Liberty to right, small eagle reverse, fifteen stars obverse, designed by Robert Scot (Breen 10J, rarity 7), a scattering of small marks, some mint-caused planchet adjustment marks on the obverse, very choice almost uncirculated, a well-known rarity in the 18th Century Half-Eagle series, one of about 1,162 pieces coined with fifteen obverse stars, easily amongst the finest survivors of the date, Walter Breen speculated in his Encyclopedia that perhaps just thirty-five examples of the date exist in all grades, a number that includes the type with sixteen obverse stars as well

1797 HALF-EAGLE RARITY FIFTEEN OBVERSE STARS

Details

Half-Eagle, 1797, capped bust of Liberty to right, small eagle reverse, fifteen stars obverse, designed by Robert Scot (Breen 10J, rarity 7), a scattering of small marks, some mint-caused planchet adjustment marks on the obverse, very choice almost uncirculated, a well-known rarity in the 18th Century Half-Eagle series, one of about 1,162 pieces coined with fifteen obverse stars, easily amongst the finest survivors of the date, Walter Breen speculated in his Encyclopedia that perhaps just thirty-five examples of the date exist in all grades, a number that includes the type with sixteen obverse stars as well

Lot Essay

In the early days of the United States Mint, planchets or blanks were adjusted to the correct weight by hand. Women were chiefly employed to perform this task in a separate division of the Mint, as then Mint director Rittenhouse thought them "better suited" to this chore. The planchets were weighed on extremely accurate scales; those planchets found to be overweight were lightly filed, usually on the surface rather than on the edge. The remnants of those filemarks were frequently still visible after the planchets were struck into coin. On a final note, the planchets were weighed and adjusted in a room free from drafts that might have upset the delicate balance of the scales. One can only imagine the discomfort of the women "adjustors", dressed in the floor length garb of the day, working eight or more hours on a summer afternoon in a tightly closed room.