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Auction: 23004 - Ancient and British Coins - Featuring the 'White Rose' Collection
Lot: 343

USA, 'Draped Bust' Silver Dollar, 1797 $1 '9X7 Stars', Philadelphia, by Robert Scot and John Eckstein, LIBERTY, draped bust right, nine stars behind head, "seven facing", date below, rev. large letters UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Eagle in wreath, HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT lettered downwards on edge, 26.99g, 6h, 40mm. (Brooks [Stack's Bowers, June 1989], lot 181-182 same dies; Bolender B-1; Bowers/Bockerdt 73; KM 18; PCGS 6863; NGC 24X4), lightly wiped but toned with significant traces of red wax in recesses, very fine, very rare, with only 7,776 reportedly struck

"As is the norm for early United States coins, the official calendar year production figure for 1797 dollars is quite misleading. Given the surviving pool of 1797-dated silver dollars, the reported annual total of 7,776 pieces is seemingly far too low. It's likely that all or many of these coins were dated 1795 or 1796, since the Mint could not afford to discard still-usable dies. Most of the 1797-dated dollars are believed to have been among the more than 300,000 pieces reported for 1798. There are just three die marriages for the 1797 silver dollar, and all are readily distinguishable without a reference book. Two obverse dies were paired with three reverses, and the star arrangement and reverse lettering sizes make these marriages easy to attribute. Each obverse bears 16 stars corresponding to the number of states in the Union, but one die has them arranged nine left and seven right, while another has ten left and six right. Two reverse dies have Large Letters, while the sole Small Letters reverse was also used to coin dollars dated 1795, 1796 and 1798. BB-72 is the scarce die marriage, while BB-73 is the more common of the remaining two. This date is rare in Mint State and About Uncirculated. Worn examples are fairly plentiful, but they are not seen as often as the 1796 dollars." (NGC Coin Facts)

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Sold for
£3,000

Starting price
£1800