1797 $5 Small Eagle, 15 Stars

1795 $5 Large Eagle

1798 $5 Small Eagle (Regular Strike)

Series: Draped Bust $5 1795-1807

PCGS AU55

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PCGS AU53

PCGS #:: 8071

Designer:: Robert Scot

Edge:: Reeded

Diameter:: 25.00 millimeters

Weight:: 8.75 grams

Mintage:: 100

Mint:: Philadelphia

Metal:: 91.7% Gold, 8.3% Copper

Auction Record:: $275,000 • EF40 • 05-31-1999 • Goldberg Auctioneers

ShowHide Related Coins and Varieties (2)

Major Varieties

1798 $5 Small Eagle

Die Varieties

1798 $5 BD-1, Small Eagle

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Rarity and Survival Estimates Learn More

Grades	Survival Estimate The Survival Estimate represents an average of one or more experts' opinions as to how many examples survive of a particular coin in three categories: 1) all grades, 2) 60 or better, and 3) 65 or better. These estimates are based on a variety of sources, including population reports, auction appearances, and personal knowledge. Survival estimates include coins that are raw, certified by PCGS, and certified by other grading services.	Numismatic Rarity Numismatic Rarity converts the Survival Estimate for a particular coin into a number from 1 to 10 (with decimal increments) based on the PCGS Rarity Scale. The higher the number, the more rare the coin.	Relative Rarity By Type Relative Rarity By Type ranks the rarity of this coin with all other coins of this Type. Lower numbers indicate rarer coins.	Relative Rarity By Series Relative Rarity By Series ranks the rarity of this coin with all other coins of this Series. Lower numbers indicate rarer coins.
All Grades	7	R-9.6	1 / 5	3 / 23
60 or Better	0	R-10.1	1 / 5	1 / 23
65 or Better	0	R-10.1	1 / 5	1 / 23

Survival Estimate
All Grades	7
60 or Better
65 or Better

Numismatic Rarity
All Grades	R-9.6
60 or Better	R-10.1
65 or Better	R-10.1

Relative Rarity By Type All Specs in this Type
All Grades	1 / 5
60 or Better	1 / 5
65 or Better	1 / 5

Relative Rarity By Series All Specs in this Series
All Grades	3 / 23
60 or Better	1 / 23
65 or Better	1 / 23

Condition Census What Is This?

Pos	Grade	Pedigree and History
1	AU55 PCGS grade	Raymond Caldwell (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) Collection - Col. James W. Flanagan Collection - Stack's 3/1944:1063 - Clifford T. Weihman Collection - Stack's, sold privately after 1946 - King Farouk of Egypt Collection - Sotheby’s “Palace Collections of Egypt” 2/1954:229 - Paul Wittlin - William G. Baldenhofer Collection - Stack's 1/1955:1203, $6,000 - John H. Murrell Collection - Goliad Corporation (Mike Brownlee), sold privately in 8/1979 - D. Brent Pogue Collection (as PCGS AU55 31529819) - Stack's/Bowers & Sotheby's 9/2015:2074 (as PCGS AU55 31529819), $1,175,000 Pictured (poorly) in the April 1935 issue of the Numismatist, page 212. (Partial pedigree per Stack's "Baldenhofer" and Bowers' "Eliasberg" catalogs). According to John Dannreuther, the listing of James A. Stack as an owner of this coin is an error, as are the Ten Eyck and Newcomer citations listed in the Baldenhofer sale catalog. This is the Col. Green photographic library example, but Dannreuther believes that Green never owned this coin -- it was subsituted by Weihman, who purchased Green's half eagles intact and "upgraded" this piece with the Flanagan coin. This coin was graded Very Fine in the Flanagan sale.
2	XF40 estimated grade	B. Max Mehl, sold privately in 1924 for $5,250 - John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact in 1942 - Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection - Bowers & Ruddy 10/1982:330, $77,000 - Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection - Harry W. Bass Research Foundation
2	XF40 PCGS grade	John Dannreuther - Dr. Gene Sherman (via Tony Terranova) - Dr. Jon Kardatzke (via Tony Terranova and Dave Liljestrand)Goldbergs 5/1999:710 (as PCGS XF40), not sold (plate-matched to the following) - Goldbergs 6/2000:1290 (as PCGS XF40), $264,500 Planchet flake at second T in STATES. Saul Teichman suspects that this coin may be the Atwater specimen because of the flat second T in STATES.
2	XF40 estimated grade	Joseph J. Mickley Collection - William Sumner Appleton Collection - T. Harrison Garrett Collection - Robert Garrett Collection - John Work Garrett Collection - Johns Hopkins University Collection - Bowers & Ruddy 11/1979:437, $110,000 - Paramount “Auction ‘83” 7/1983:367 (as Extremely Fine 40), $71,500 - Kevin Lipton - Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries - mystery buyer
5	Very Fine (estimated grade	John Butler (a druggist from Burlington, NJ) - George H. Earle Collection - Henry Chapman 6/1912:???, $3,000 - Col. James W. Ellsworth Collection - William Cutler Atwater Collection - B. Max Mehl 6/1946:1612, $3,100
6	Very Fine, reverse scratches	Lorin G. Parmelee Collection - New York Coin & Stamp Co. 6/1890:758 - George D. Woodside Collection - New York Coin & Stamp Co. 4/1892:??? - National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution
7	Extremely Fine, damaged	James Ten Eyck Collection - B. Max Mehl 5/1922:166, $5,250 - Waldo C. Newcomer Collection - Stack's “Davis-Graves" collection - C. T. Weihman Collection - Josiah K. Lilly Collection - National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution This example has many scratches, especially a thin scratch through Liberty's cap visible on the plates of all the above sales and it has had a scratch in the right obverse field smoothed. This example is the one plated in the Ten Eyck and Davis-Graves sales and is also on Mehl's Newcomer plates. This coin is attributed to Col. Green in Cory Gillilland's Sylloge as are many Weihman/Lilly coins, some possibly in error. This is NOT the one on the Col. Green plates nor is it the Baldenhofer coin. (Please note that the Col. Green plates usually only show one coin per variety).

#1 AU55 PCGS grade

Raymond Caldwell (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) Collection - Col. James W. Flanagan Collection - Stack's 3/1944:1063 - Clifford T. Weihman Collection - Stack's, sold privately after 1946 - King Farouk of Egypt Collection - Sotheby’s “Palace Collections of Egypt” 2/1954:229 - Paul Wittlin - William G. Baldenhofer Collection - Stack's 1/1955:1203, $6,000 - John H. Murrell Collection - Goliad Corporation (Mike Brownlee), sold privately in 8/1979 - D. Brent Pogue Collection (as PCGS AU55 31529819) - Stack's/Bowers & Sotheby's 9/2015:2074 (as PCGS AU55 31529819), $1,175,000

Pictured (poorly) in the April 1935 issue of the Numismatist, page 212. (Partial pedigree per Stack's "Baldenhofer" and Bowers' "Eliasberg" catalogs). According to John Dannreuther, the listing of James A. Stack as an owner of this coin is an error, as are the Ten Eyck and Newcomer citations listed in the Baldenhofer sale catalog. This is the Col. Green photographic library example, but Dannreuther believes that Green never owned this coin -- it was subsituted by Weihman, who purchased Green's half eagles intact and "upgraded" this piece with the Flanagan coin. This coin was graded Very Fine in the Flanagan sale.

#2 XF40 estimated grade

B. Max Mehl, sold privately in 1924 for $5,250 - John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact in 1942 - Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection - Bowers & Ruddy 10/1982:330, $77,000 - Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection - Harry W. Bass Research Foundation

#2 XF40 PCGS grade

John Dannreuther - Dr. Gene Sherman (via Tony Terranova) - Dr. Jon Kardatzke (via Tony Terranova and Dave Liljestrand)Goldbergs 5/1999:710 (as PCGS XF40), not sold (plate-matched to the following) - Goldbergs 6/2000:1290 (as PCGS XF40), $264,500

Planchet flake at second T in STATES. Saul Teichman suspects that this coin may be the Atwater specimen because of the flat second T in STATES.

#2 XF40 estimated grade

Joseph J. Mickley Collection - William Sumner Appleton Collection - T. Harrison Garrett Collection - Robert Garrett Collection - John Work Garrett Collection - Johns Hopkins University Collection - Bowers & Ruddy 11/1979:437, $110,000 - Paramount “Auction ‘83” 7/1983:367 (as Extremely Fine 40), $71,500 - Kevin Lipton - Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries - mystery buyer

#5 Very Fine (estimated grade

John Butler (a druggist from Burlington, NJ) - George H. Earle Collection - Henry Chapman 6/1912:???, $3,000 - Col. James W. Ellsworth Collection - William Cutler Atwater Collection - B. Max Mehl 6/1946:1612, $3,100

#6 Very Fine, reverse scratches

Lorin G. Parmelee Collection - New York Coin & Stamp Co. 6/1890:758 - George D. Woodside Collection - New York Coin & Stamp Co. 4/1892:??? - National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution

#7 Extremely Fine, damaged

James Ten Eyck Collection - B. Max Mehl 5/1922:166, $5,250 - Waldo C. Newcomer Collection - Stack's “Davis-Graves" collection - C. T. Weihman Collection - Josiah K. Lilly Collection - National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution

This example has many scratches, especially a thin scratch through Liberty's cap visible on the plates of all the above sales and it has had a scratch in the right obverse field smoothed. This example is the one plated in the Ten Eyck and Davis-Graves sales and is also on Mehl's Newcomer plates. This coin is attributed to Col. Green in Cory Gillilland's Sylloge as are many Weihman/Lilly coins, some possibly in error. This is NOT the one on the Col. Green plates nor is it the Baldenhofer coin. (Please note that the Col. Green plates usually only show one coin per variety).

Ron Guth:

The 1798 Small Eagle $5 is one of the rarest of all regular-issue United States Coins. It is not a pattern, it is not a novodel, it is not a restrike, nor is it a concoction made for sale to collectors -- it is simply a low-mintage $5 gold piece struck in 1798 that went directly into circulation and all but disappeared.

As of 2015, only seven examples are known of the 1798 Small Eagle $5. Two are in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. One is tied up in the Harry Bass Research Foundation. The Atwater example has not been seen since it appeared in a B. Max Mehl sale in 1946. The Garrett example disappeared "into the woodwork" circa 1983 when a mystery buyer flew into Lexington, Kentucky, purchased the coin, then flew off into the sunset in a private plane. In fact, the only example to appear on the market since 2000 is the PCGS AU55 D. Brent Pogue example that sold in September 2015 for a record $1,175,000 (and which itself had been off the market since 1979). Thus, the opportunity to purchase an example of this coin is exceedingly rare, and it would be difficult to pry one onto the market because we simply don't know where they are.

David Akers (1975/88):

Without a doubt, this is one of the most famous and highly publicized U.S. Half Eagles. It has always been held in high esteem by collectors and it realized as much as $5,250 as far back as the Ten Eyck sale in 1922. (As an aside, the Ten Eyck specimen, called Fine in that catalogue, is the same coin as the Baldenhofer specimen graded AU.) All of the 6-7 known specimens are VF-EF and all have a raised semi-circular line below the date. (This also appears on one of the varieties of the 1798 Large 8.)

The King Farouk 1798 Small Eagle Half Eagle - The D. Brent Pogue Collection II