Gem Half Dollars Of 1796 And 1797, A Unique Foursome Of Rarities!

The following is an article excerpt from Coinweek

Among all United States silver coin designs the rarest of the rare is that used only in 1796 and 1797. The obverse is the Draped Bust type with Liberty facing to the right. The reverse is the Small Eagle type with the national bird perched on a fluffy cloud. For these two years combined, only 3,918 were struck. Coined at a time when there was little interest in numismatics in America, most went into the channels of commerce and later were melted. Today, examples are rarities in any grade, even if well worn.

There were three varieties struck in these two years: 1796 with 15 obverse stars, 1796 with 16 obverse stars, and 1797 with 15 stars. The D. Brent Pogue Collection has beautiful Mint State examples of all three plus a duplicate Mint State of one!

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