1820 Capped Head $5 Half Eagle, Curl Base 2 & Small Letters
The United States Mint reported striking 263,806 Capped Head $5 half eagles in 1820, a whopping quantity for the upstart republic on the west side of the Atlantic.(1)
Today, very few of that number are known to exist. What happened to them?
Most of them were melted down. In fact, more than 99.8% of the Capped Head half eagles of 1813-1834 met the same destructive fate.(2)
The relentless melting occurred because throughout much of the early part of the 19th century, a U.S. $5 half eagle was worth slightly more than $5 in Europe. This imbalance was true for all early U.S. gold denominations.
Gold depositors took advantage of the Mint’s free weighing and assaying services to produce coins of .9167 fineness. Freshly struck gold half eagles never had a chance to enter the channels of American commerce because they were promptly shipped to melting pots overseas, where every ounce of gold could be exchanged for 16 ounces of silver.(3)
When the silver returned to the United States, it required just 15 ounces to purchase one ounce of gold, leaving one silver ounce as a profit. The cycle then repeated itself.(4)
The European crucibles remained busy until Congress passed a law on June 28, 1834, to reduce the gold content of American coins, thus removing the profitability of the exporting scheme.(5)
There are three varieties(6) of the 1820 Capped Head half eagle:
- Square Base 2 (four die marriages: BD-1, BD-2, BD-3, BD-4)
- Curved Base 2, Large Letters (three die marriages: BD-5, BD-7, BD-9)
- Curved Base 2, Small Letters (two die marriages: BD-6, BD-8)
The chart below shows value trends for the Curved Base 2, Small Letters half eagle, recognized as the rarest of the three 1820 varieties.
The past, present, and future of the 1820 Curved Base 2, Small Letters half eagle is something that should catch the eye of advanced U.S. gold coin specialists seeking a coin of high repute.
| Estimated survivors in all grades: 14 ?
The survivor estimate from PCGS represents an average of one or more experts' opinions as to how many examples survive of a particular coin in all grades. Survival estimates include coins that are raw, certified by PCGS, and certified by other grading services. Learn more at PCGS. |
| PCGS Rarity Scale: 9.4 ?
The 'PCGS CoinFacts Rarity Scale' assesses the relative rarity of all U.S. coins, based on estimated surviving examples. The scale runs from 1.0 to 10.0. The higher the number, the rarer the coin.
Learn more at PCGS. |
| Click HERE to check for availability on eBay** |
Preview of eBay selection (don't expect to find this rarity for sale very often -- also try HERE link above):
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| Trendline Avg = 15.07 | GOOD |
Historic Value Trend Charts:
| Last updated 8-11-24 |  |
Return to Key Date Coin List |
| Compare to Common Date Coin of Same Type | ||
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| Download Charts to Your Computer | ||
Sources
1. Yeoman, R.S. and Garrett, Jeff, et al. A Guide Book of United States Coins, 75th ed. Pelham, AL: Whitman Publishing, 2021.
2. PCGS. Capped Bust $5.
3. Stack's Bowers Galleries. 1820 Capped Head Half Eagle. Curl Base 2, Large Letters. BD-7. March 2020 Auction.
4. Heritage Auctions. 1821 $5 BD-1. Jan 2015 Auction.
5. Stack's Bowers Galleries. 1821 Capped Head Half Eagle. BD-1. Aug 2011 Auction.
6. PCGS. 1820 $5 Curl Base 2, Small Letters (Regular Strike).
**Many very fine coin dealers sell on eBay. At any point in time, there may be over one million search results for United States coins. This includes quite a few of the recommendations on our Key Date Coin List.
If you’re thinking about purchasing a rare coin, eBay is certainly worth a look. For your convenience, the links from this site to eBay are coded to bring up only coins certified by PCGS and NGC.
As is always, always the case, never buy a valuable coin from a seller whose trustworthiness cannot be verified. Learn more about this at our chapter Best Places to Buy Coins, which also has a section on doing business on eBay.
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Coin Images by Stack's Bowers Galleries.
