1821 $5 MS63 PCGS CAC EX CHAPMAN/ BASS

Second Finest of the Major Rarity. PCGS Price Guide $425,000. 16 Estimated in all grades. CAC Pop 1 and 1 finer. The 1821 half eagle is one of the great rarities of the Capped Head series. John Dannreuther estimates that approximately 12 to 15 examples of BD-1 survive, including two proofs, one of which resides permanently in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. The substantially rarer BD-2 is believed to exist in a mere two or three examples. Rich yellow-gold and green-gold color blankets both sides. Considerable mint luster remains across the well-preserved fields, producing an attractive satiny glow as the coin rotates beneath a light. Only minor, grade-consistent contact is present, and none materially diminishes the coin’s commanding appearance.  

Although the reported mintage for 1821 was 34,631 pieces, nearly the entire production disappeared through circulation, exportation, and melting. Early United States gold coins contained more gold than their stated face value relative to prevailing international exchange rates, encouraging widespread bullion speculation and destruction. By the 1830s, vast quantities of earlier half eagles had been melted, leaving many dates represented by only a handful of survivors. 

Roster of 1821 BD-1 Half Eagles

1. MS66+ PCGS CAC. Abe Kosoff; Texas collector (possibly Jeff Browning, John Murrell, or Robert Schermerhorn); Roy E. Naftzger Fixed Price List (Paramount, 1981); Mack and Brent Pogue in April 1982; Pogue Collection, Part IV (Stack's Bowers, 5/2016), lot 4025, realized $564,000.
2. MS63 PCGS CAC. David S. Wilson Collection (S.H. Chapman, 3/1907), lot 72; later, Wolfson Collection (Stack's, 10/1962), lot 365; Nate Shapero Collection (Stack's, 10/1971), lot 975; Harry W. Bass, Jr.; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collection, Part II (Heritage, 1/2023), lot 9045. The present coin
3. MS63+ PCGS. Possibly William Cutler Atwater Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1946), lot 1639; Amon Carter, Sr.; Amon Carter, Jr.; Amon Carter Family Collection (Stack's, 1/1984), lot 659; Pre-Long Beach Sale (Goldberg Auctions, 1/2014), lot 1777, realized $540,500; European collector, via Joe O'Connor; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2015), lot 4291, realized $352,500 to Doug Winter; McCoy Family Collection (Heritage, 8/2020), lot 3993.
4. MS62 NGC. George Seavey, exhibited before the Boston Numismatic Society on February 14, 1869; Seavey Descriptive Catalog (William Strobridge, 6/1873), lot 437; Lorin G. Parmelee, who purchased Seavey's collection intact before the date of the sale; Parmelee Collection (New York Coin & Stamp, 6/1890), lot 930; Harlan Page Smith Collection (S.H. & H. Chapman, 5/1906), lot 209; John H. Clapp; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. in 1942, via Stack's; Eliasberg estate; United States Gold Coin Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1982), lot 377; Pre-Long Beach Auction (Superior, 5/2006), lot 1104.
5. AU58 PCGS. F.C.C. Boyd; World's Greatest Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 1/1946), lot 370; Memorable Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 3/1948), lot 320; Adolphe Menjou Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 6/1950), lot 1466; Farish Baldenhofer Collection (Stack's, 11/1955), lot 1238; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2012), lot 4673, realized $161,000.
6. AU55. Colonel E.H.R. Green; C.T. Weihman; Josiah K. Lilly; National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution. Grade by Garrett and Guth.
7. AU55 NGC. Joseph J. Mickley; W. Elliot Woodward; William Sumner Appleton; John C. Schayer; Woodward again; T. Harrison Garrett on January 17, 1883; Robert Garrett; John Wok Garrett; Johns Hopkins University; Garrett Collection, Part I (Bowers and Ruddy, 11/1979), lot 464; October Sale (Superior, 10/1990), lot 2094; Pre-Long Beach Sale (Superior, 5/2003), lot 3697; Frog Run Farm Collection (American Numismatic Rarities, 11/2004), lot 1797; Baltimore Auction (Bowers and Merena, 3/2009), lot 3707; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2014), lot 5427.
8. AU55 NGC. Belden Roach Collection (B. Max Mehl, 2/1944), lot 545; Jerome Kern Collection (B. Max Mehl, 5/1950), lot 355; ANA Convention Sale (Stack's, 8/1976), lot 2938; March Sale (Stack's, 3/1983), lot 1294; purchased privately from Stack's by the owner of the Rajj Collection, 4/1983; Rajj Collection (Stack's Bowers, 8/2011), lot 7671.
9. AU55 PCGS. Golden Sale (Kreisberg-Schulman, 3/1962), lot 2483; S.S. Forrest, Jr. Collection (Stack's, 9/1972), lot 209; Robison Collection (Stack's, 2/1979), lot 357; Blue Moon Collection (Stack's Bowers, 3/2017), lot 2330; Del Loy Hansen. From a tiny planchet flaw on the neck we believe this coin might be the one S.H. Chapman described in lot 943 of the Gilbert D. Kingman Collection (Chapman, 2/1920). Chapman noted the coin had been in the same family holding since 1823.
   

PCGS Cert Verification #48790403

• PCGS Price Guide - $425,000
• PCGS POP - 2/2
• PCGS Price Guide Variety - $425,000
• PCGS POP Variety- 1/2
• CAC Price Guide - $360,000
• CAC POP - 1/1
• CAC Price Guide Variety- $360,000
• CAC POP Variety- 1/0
• PCGS Coin#  519929 (Variety of:# 8129)