1809 O-104 R5- Capped Bust Half Dollar

Obverse: 3
Reverse: C
This one is extraordinarily tough in grades above XF40, with the finest possibly being a single AU55. There are supposed to be 64-80 known but are there really enough to make it to 64 examples? Who knows, but it almost never appears at auction. I believe most of these are squirreled away in collections and no one likes to sell them. I count 27 appearances since 2003.
1809, O-104 R5-, Capped Bust, Half Dollar
1809, O-104 R5-, Capped Bust, Half Dollar
1809, O-104 R5-, Capped Bust, Half Dollar
1809, O-104 R5-, Capped Bust, Half Dollar
Variety Attribution: Obverse-Stars large and well struck. Star 13 has a scalloped point toward curl. Date is 9 1/2 mm figures are set irregular, 18 is wider than 809 and 9 leans sharply to the right. There are one or more tiny lumps, extra points or small lines at or near every inside star point. Die line close to star 5 near inner point.

Reverse-50 C. is 2 mm. and well centered. A to arrohead is 3/4 mm. there is a die line just inside border of shield at left, from below the lowest crossbar to the fourth one above. All letters in legend are clearly separated. A die crack from left claw crosses all olive leaves to top of UNITED ST. Another from first T in STATES to top of A then down through TES to scroll.

1809 Leaman-Gunnet Emission Sequence Number for O-104: 12
Overall Number: 26

Top five condition census coins from last 10 years of auction and sale records:
08/16 Downey MBS 43 (ANA-Anahem)        PCGS AU55
09/09 Private Treaty                                      PCGS AU55 (soft luster, light friction in fields)
06/08 B&M (Baltimore)                                 PCGS AU53
05/12 Stu Keen FPL                                      AU53
08/14 Stack's-B (ANA-Chicago)                    ANACS AU50 Cleaned