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Issue RecordPRE-1807Philadelphia89.24% Silver1 of 39 issues
1806 Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Half Dollar
The best available demonstration that in this series the date is not the unit. Six major varieties share one delivery figure, and the Knob 6 No Stem is five known at R-9.7 against the Pointed 6 Stem at 2,500 — a rarity spread of 500 to 1 inside a single year and a single recorded number.
1806 · Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Half DollarAMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY · PUBLIC DOMAIN MARK / NO COPYRIGHT – UNITED STATES, STATED PER OBJECT IN THE RECORD'S OWN MACHINE-READABLE RIGHTS STATEMENT
02
The numbers, and what kind of numbers they are
Every figure carries its evidence class. Press a class to open the record behind it — what it rests on, by what method, and what the series says you should not conclude from it.
RECORDED DELIVERY
839,576
The Mint recorded what the Chief Coiner DELIVERED in a calendar year, not what it struck bearing a date. Where the registry combines years, the split is a reconstruction and the class says so.
DATED ATTRIBUTION
839,576
What the trade assigns to coins bearing this date. A modern allocation by an outside authority, not a federal record.
ESTIMATED SURVIVORS
—
An estimate of how many still exist in any grade, not a count of coins anyone has seen. Thirteen of this series' thirty-nine issues carry no census at all and show none.
Provenance · RECORDED DELIVERY
FIGURE839,576
CLASSOBSERVED — read directly from the document
LOCATORp.8
METHODSix major varieties share a single recorded delivery, and their rarities are two orders of magnitude apart: Knob 6 No Stem at 5 known (R-9.7) against Pointed 6 Stem at 2,500 / 100 / 12 (R-4.5). PCGS publishes no plain-date estimate for 1806 — the date is not the unit here.
CAVEATThe Mint recorded what the Chief Coiner DELIVERED in a calendar year, not what it struck bearing a date. Where the registry combines years, the split is a reconstruction and the class says so.
Provenance · DATED ATTRIBUTION
FIGURE839,576
CLASSESTIMATED — a third party's estimate, attributed
SOURCEPCGS CoinFacts ↗
ATTRIBUTED TOPCGS CoinFacts
METHODSix major varieties share a single recorded delivery, and their rarities are two orders of magnitude apart: Knob 6 No Stem at 5 known (R-9.7) against Pointed 6 Stem at 2,500 / 100 / 12 (R-4.5). PCGS publishes no plain-date estimate for 1806 — the date is not the unit here.
CAVEATWhat the trade assigns to coins bearing this date. A modern allocation by an outside authority, not a federal record.
Provenance · ESTIMATED SURVIVORS
FIGURENo figure — see below
CLASSSPECULATIVE — proposed, not established
SOURCE—
METHODSix major varieties share a single recorded delivery, and their rarities are two orders of magnitude apart: Knob 6 No Stem at 5 known (R-9.7) against Pointed 6 Stem at 2,500 / 100 / 12 (R-4.5). PCGS publishes no plain-date estimate for 1806 — the date is not the unit here.
CAVEATAn estimate of how many still exist in any grade, not a count of coins anyone has seen. Thirteen of this series' thirty-nine issues carry no census at all and show none.
03
Specifications
SpecificationValue
DENOMINATIONHalf Dollar
DESIGNERRobert Scot (Flowing Hair and Heraldic Eagle) · Robert Scot with John Eckstein (Draped Bust) · John Reich (Capped Bust)
COMPOSITION89.24% silver, 10.76% copper — 185⅝ grains of pure silver in 208 grains of standard silver
WEIGHT13.48 g
SILVER CONTENT0.38672 ozt
DIAMETERNot fixed by statute. The Act of April 2, 1792 specifies weight and fineness and says nothing about diameter; surviving coins run to roughly 32–33 mm.
EDGELettered — FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR
MINTPhiladelphia only — no branch mint existed until 1838
MINT MARKNone. No early half dollar carries a mint mark.
DIE MARRIAGESSix PCGS major varieties over one delivery figure
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The primary record
Every document behind the figures above. Where OunceDesk holds a copy, the row opens it.
Message from the President transmitting a report of the Director of the Mint (1840), p.8
Held in the Archive · behind recorded delivery
Held in the Archive · behind recorded delivery
PCGS CoinFacts
External authority — not held by OunceDesk · behind dated attribution
External authority — not held by OunceDesk · behind dated attribution
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