1795 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. BB-51, B-14. Rarity-2. Off-Center Bust. EF-45 (PCGS). Gold CAC. CMQ. OGH.

This piece is immensely desirable, appealing to both type collectors and advanced early dollar specialists. The surfaces are Choice, appearing almost prooflike under a light source and exhibiting copious frosty luster. Liberty is sharply defined on the obverse, showing crisp hair and profile detail and just the lightest friction across the high points. The eagle's breast is slightly soft, as is typical, though the feathers and wreath are sharp and intricate. A planchet flaw (as made) near star 11 goes largely unnoticed, accompanied by fainter inconsistencies in the metal in the left obverse field. The complexion is predominantly smooth and without detractions of any sort, displaying immensely strong eye appeal and pearlescent lilac-gold iridescence. This is the only 1795 Draped Bust dollar of any variety to have been awarded Gold CAC approval, emphasizing the truly superior merits of this jewel. While the Gold sticker indicates that it would still be considered premium at the AU-50 level, the coin certainly speaks for itself regardless of the holder that it is in. The old style PCGS holder notes the coin number as 6858, which more recently has been specified to designate only the Centered Bust varieties, while coin number 96858 is now used to designated Off-Center Bust examples, as here. Two different die combinations were used for the 1795 Draped Bust dollar. The die pair believed to have been struck first is the so-called Off-Center Bust variety, BB-51, which features Liberty appearing too far to the left from the center, a position used only on this die pair. This positioning was corrected to a more aesthetically pleasing centered location on the second variety, the BB-52 pair. The precise number struck and timing of each variety is unclear. Mint records from the time are not as thorough as scholars would like and much of what can be determined is conjecture. The commonly cited mintage figure of 42,738 is believed to be only a portion of the overall total for the 1795 Draped Bust dollar. The best Estimate: on the number of 1795 Draped Bust silver dollars struck is that of 83,178 pieces put forth by Harry E. Salyards in his outstanding reference Eagle Poised on a Bank of Clouds: The United States Silver Dollars of 1795-1798 (2022). Most of these coins - 78,238 pieces - were delivered in October 1795, the first month of coinage from Scot's newly completed Draped Bust dies. No additional dollars were delivered for three months in response to Mint Director Boudinot's policy of emphasizing fractional silver and copper coinage. The first two deliveries of 1796 amounted to 4,550 coins on January 30 and 390 coins on February 13, 1796, which totals numismatic scholars traditionally assign to 1795-dated dies, thereby rounding out Salyard's Estimate:d mintage. Since the seven weeks that elapsed before the next dollar delivery on March 30 provided sufficient time for the Mint to prepare the first 1796-dated dies, it is generally assumed that delivery of 1796 Draped Bust dollars commenced on that date. This is just that, an assumption, and it is entirely possible that additional 1795-dated coins were delivered on March 30, 1796, or even later. With this possibility in mind, Q. David Bowers (2013) provides a more liberal and approximate Estimate: of 100,000 coins struck for the 1795 Draped Bust silver dollar. BB-51 is the more plentiful of the two die marriages of this issue, and Bowers suggests that 1,400 to 2,000 coins are extant in all grades, although Salyards takes a more conservative view with perhaps 725 to 1,200 known. With the typical survivor grading VF, in any case, even EF and AU coins are scarce in an absolute sense, and rare relative to the demand for them in today's numismatic hobby.

PCGS# 6858. NGC ID: 24X2.

CAC Gold Stickered Population: 1 in all grades.

From the James DeAngelis Collection. Earlier from Heritage's sale of the Hamilton Collection, August 2016, lot 4162; our sale of the Collection of Thaddeus A. Tatum III, August 2018 ANA Auction, lot 1178.

Estimate: $13000