1804 $5 Draped Bust Half Eagle, Small 8 PCGS AU53

Here’s a rare artifact from the early days of both our nation and national Mint. Please take a look at the dramatic images of this piece with its striking golden yellow coloration. Even though the mintage of this issue was 30,475, only 188 original examples of the 1804 $5 Draped Bust Small 8 have been certified and graded by PCGS.

Why so few? Because our gold coinage was undervalued from 1795 until 1834, resulting in the vast majority of gold pieces being sent to Europe to sell for their bullion value. The rare survivors, including this offering from AUCM, more than likely were stored in the First Bank of the United States. PCGS has graded 8 of the Small 8 variety as AU53, with 149 finer. Collectors Universe gives this prized variety a price of $15,000.00.

Date comparison of the 1804 $5 Draped Bust Small over Large 8 and Small 8. Courtesy PCGS Coinfacts website.

Considering the obverse Draped Bust design of Robert Scot, numismatist Walter Breen feels that Scot more than likely, “copied some unlocated contemporaneous engraving of a Roman copy of a Hellenistic goddess, altering the hair, adding drapery and an oversize soft cap.” Breen also reproduced an 1825 letter from Mint Director Samuel Moore that states that the cap on the gold coins was “not the Liberty cap in form, but probably conforming to fashionable dress of the day.” Perhaps Lady Liberty’s headpiece is a mob cap, which was the fashion of the day.

Discussing the design, Cornelius Vermeule analyses the Liberty on Scot’s gold coinage: "Criticism comes easy, however, and it must not be overlooked that Robert Scot's first gold coinage has a positive character of its own, a healthy individuality and almost rustic charm that conveys the message of a young nation seeking its identity as well as any monumental manifestation of the early arts in America."