SCOT'S HERALDIC DESIGN (1801-1807)

Following the lead of the dollars (1798) and the dismes and half dismes (1800), the first half dollars minted after 1797 bore the new Heraldic Eagle design, Scot's copy of the Great Seal of the United States (1782). This device punch lacked stars, ber¬ries, and also the end of stem; it also, either from blunder or bravado, placed the warlike arrows in the eagle's dexter claw (observer's 1.), the peaceful olive branch in the less honorable sinister claw. Compare Chap. 24, Sect, iii, introductory text.

For many years collectors believed in the existence of half dollars dated 1804, especially because mint reports listed a large mintage [156,519]. Early auction catalogs filled the gap by listing "1804 under 5" (the vars. now known as 1805/4); but to date the only 1804-dited halves seen are fraudulent alterations from other dates, either by removing the 5 from an 1805/4 or by fabricating a 4 from some other digit. Most likely the pieces delivered in 1804 came from 1803-dated dies, as with the silver dollars.

On the other hand, the so-called 1806/9 (formerly, in error, "1806/00") is a corrected blunder, whereas the 1805/4 obvs. reflect Mint economy in use of dated dies as long as possible. The "9" is a 6 punch first entered rotated 180° from normal. And the 1806/5 dies (one of them an actual die used in 1805, reannealed for redating, then rehardened) reflect an emergency: The Engraving Department was running out of die steel.

For many of the Mint's earliest years, its principal business was making cents, half dollars, and half eagles, which mostly found their way into bank sacks rather than public circulation. Large mintages of these denominations resulted in a prolifera¬tion of vars., mostly positional (because letters, stars, numerals, and berries had to be entered into each working die by hand), but in many instances also major (reflecting changes in punches, additions or omissions, or corrections of blunders). The com¬plexity of listings in the 1805-6 period reflects all these factors. No really satisfactory reference work yet exists (see Sect, i, in¬troductory text). Nevertheless, the sequence herein, though not pretending to be completely chronological, makes more sense than any previously published. (Absolute chronological se¬quence would place the 1805/4 vars. in the middle of the year, the small 5 coin, 4576 = Ov. 107, at the beginning.)

Mintage of this design was interrupted in summer 1807 so that the new Reich dies could be introduced: See next section. All 1807's seen to date have a new edge device without any ornaments between words, a style continued for some decades. The mintage figure [301,076], from Snowden {I860}, almost certainly includes many dated 1806.

SCOT'S HERALDIC DESIGN

Designer, Engraver, Robert Scot, obv. after Stuart, rev. after the Great Seal. Mint, Physical Specifications, Authorizing Acts, as before.
Grade range, POOR to UNC. GOOD: Date and all letters legible except for motto; devices outlined. VERY GOOD: Some few inter¬nal details of bust, hair, and wing feathers; deepest drapery fold shows; some motto letters. FINE: All drapery folds show; partial hair, leaf, feather, and stripe details; most motto letters. VERY FINE: Only slight wear on r. drapery folds, 1. side (to curls) smooth; over half hair, feather, and leaf details; full motto. EX¬TREMELY FINE: All drapery lines complete to junction with curls; few isolated tiny rubbed spots only; generally, over half mint luster. EXCEPTIONS: Coins from buckled dies may not show full motto even in mint state; breast feathers may be weak even in mint state (look for mint luster on weak areas).