Q. David Bowers
Obverse 4: 1798 die with 13 obverse stars; one of the first regular obverses of the 1798 year.
Reverse A: Small Eagle, Small Letters. The die earlier used to coin 1795 BB-51 and 1796 BB-61 and BB-62.
Reverse B: Small Eagle, Large Letters. Die made in 1797, but not used during that calendar year.
In early 1798, it was realized that the two remaining reverse dies with the Small Eagle design were obsolete, as they Were of a motif that was to be replaced by the Heraldic Eagle type. Accordingly, the two Small Eagle reverses and the three obverse dies were put into the press, and dollars were coined of the following combinations:
1-A. 1796 obverse, with Small Eagle, Small Letters reverse, now relapped. (1796 BB-66)
2-A. 1797 obverse, with Small Eagle, Small Letters reverse.
Obverse die perfect (without cracks). (1797 BB-72)
2·B. 1797 obverse as preceding, with Small Eagle, Large Letters reverse. The obverse die is cracked, indicating this was made later than 2-A. (1797 BB-73)
Sometime early in 1798, reverses A and B were mated with new 1798 dies and used to create' these combinations:
3-A. 1798 15 obverse stars; Small Eagle, Small Letters reverse. (1798 BB-81)
4-B. 1798 13 obverse stars; Small Eagle, Large Letters reverse. Die cracks show that some specimens of 1798 4-B were made prior to some specimens of 1797 2-B. (1798 BB-82)
Obverse 1 of 1796 and reverse A (Small Letters die first used in 1795), now relapped to permit further use, produced the variety known today as 1796 BB-65. Obverse 1 of 1796 is known in no other combination.
Obverse 2 of 1797 and reverse B of 1797 are known in no other combinations than those given above; that is, they do not appear to have been used with other dies before the 1798 calendar year. I believe that early 1798 represents their first use.
Reverse B, the Small Eagle type with Large Letters, was first combined with a 1797 die to strike 1797 BB-73 dollars. This die, which by now had developed some cracks, was removed from the presses and was used to strike 1798-dated coins (1798 BB-82). The reverse die, with the cracks slightly more advanced, was then remated with the 1797 obverse and used to strike additional 1797 BB-73 dollars. It seems reasonable to me that all 1797 BB-73 dollars were made in 1798.
If we assume that 1797 BB-73 and 1798 BB-82 , both sharing the same Large Letters reverse die "B," were both struck in 1798, this leaves only one remaining of the three 1797-dated varieties, BB-71, as a candidate for having actually been struck in 1797. 1797 BB-71 may have been a part of the 7,776 mintage reported by the government for that calendar year. I do not believe that the paltry coinage of 7,776 dollars coined during the 1797 calendar year was sufficient to create three die varieties and produce the large number of coins still surviving today.
For the Small Eagle, Small Letters reverse, a summary of its activity follows:
1. It was used in 1795 to strike specimens of BB-51, including some presentation pieces with prooflike surfaces.
2. It was next used in 1796 to produce a generous coinage of 1796 BB-62 and a small number of BB-63.
3. The die was not used in 1797.
4.In 1798, the reverse die was mated with a hitherto unused 1796 obverse to create 1796 BB-66, an unused 1797 obverse to create 1797 BB-72, and a 1798 15-stars obverse to create 1798 BB-81.
5. Its useful life began in 1795 and ended in early 1798, by which time it had been mated to six different obverses bearing four different dates!
Two overdates occur among early silver dollars: 1799/8, of which one obverse die is known; and 1802/1, of which five obverse dies are known. On the other hand, it seems to be a certainty that various other (non-overdated) dies were sometimes used in years later than the dates on them. The most obvious example is 1797, during which calendar year only 7,776 silver dollars were made-equal only to a tiny fraction of dollars made bearing the 1797 date; i.e., 1797-dated dollars were made in one or more later years. No dies are known, such as 1798/7, with 1797 being the under-date. Accordingly, dollars were struck in later years from earlier-dated, non-overdate dies.
When dies were made, they were hardened (by heating them red hot, then quenching them suddenly in cold water) to strengthen the die faces and to prolong their life. Once a dated die was hardened during the normal die-making process, it could only be overdated effectively if it was annealed (softened by slow heating), after which it would have to be rehardened. Accordingly, it was easier to utilize already hardened dies no matter what date they bore.
On the other hand, if a die had been punched with a date, say 1801, but had not yet been hardened, and if it remained on hand until 1802, it was a simple matter in 1802 to punch a 2 over the last digit of the date, and then harden the die for use.