1796 DRAPED BUST $2.5, NO STARS AU55

NO STARS. LUSTROUS PLANCHET WITH MINIMAL WEAR. FIRST YEAR OF ISSUE. ONE YEAR TYPE COIN. LESS THAN 125 SPECIMENS BELIEVED TO EXIST TODAY IN ALL GRADES. The very first Quarter Eagle struck in the United States Mint, the 1796 No Stars is also important as a one-year type. All other Two-and-a-Halves of the Capped Bust Right design display an arrangement of 16 or 12 stars around the obverse border. The original mintage for this first-year issue is a mere 963 pieces. With just 100-130 coins believed extant in all grades, this is the single-rarest Quarter Eagle type from the 1796-1834 era. (Survivors are even more elusive than those of the 1808 Capped Bust Left delivery, which is also a one-year type.) There are two die marriages known: BD-1, which is extremely rare with only four-to-six examples confirmed, and BD-2.