Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia
Q. David Bowers
1798 Pointed Tail 9; Heraldic Eagle. BB-117.
Arc star pattern on reverse.
(B-33.)
• OBVERSE 13: See description under 1798 BB-113. On this variety the highest hair curl is very weak and indistinct. The horizontal die flaws in the right field inside stars 10 and 12 are bold. A horizontal die scratch is just above the back of the head, below IB of LIBERTY.
Obverse die used to strike BB-1l3 (1st use), 1798 BB-114 (2nd use), BB-115 (3rd use), BB-1I6 (4th use), BB-117 (5th use), BB-118 (6th use), BB-119 (7th and final use) .
• REVERSE 0: Arc star pattern. Point of star almost touches upper beak (only three arc-pattern reverse dies, those used to coin BB-116, BB-117, and BB-125 have the ray at beak); ray points to right side of B in PLURIBUS. No stars touch clouds, although the last is very close. 13 perfect arrows. Lowest arrow extends just past right edge of left upright of N in UNITED. Top left berry is the smallest of 5 berries; the top right is the largest. The lowest berry is directly below the left tip of the right foot of final A. Final A does not touch claw. The first A in AMERICA does not touch either the third or fourth feather. Point of leaf below left side of upright of I in AMERICA. From claws, branch stem angles down to the right, then back toward the left, pointing toward the tail feathers. Left base of E in UNITED higher than the base of T. Left base of E in STATES higher than base of T, Letters in AMER very close at their bases. A short die scratch extends just over 1 mm. from the right top of the shield.
Reverse die used to strike 1798 BB-117 only.
• DIE STATES:
Die State I: Obverse: Cracks in about the same state as BB-116. Sawtooth-type clash marks not visible (relapped?). Perfect reverse die. May not exist with perfect reverse die.
Die State II: Obverse: As preceding. Reverse: Crack from denticles through right arm of T in UNITED, into field below left ribbon end. Another crack from denticles, connecting left serifs of M to right ribbon. The die is bulged between and joining these two cracks. Presumably, these cracks eventually joined to form Die State III. Cf. Spies Collection (Stack's, 1974): 111.
Die State III: Obverse: As preceding. Reverse: Heavy die crack bisects the reverse from 8 o'clock to 3 o'clock. Rust pits in shield. Cf. Spies Collection (Stack's, 1974): 112 .
• AUCTION POPULATION SURVEY: Fine: 1, Extremely Fine: 4. Total: 5.
• COLLECTING NOTES: 1798 BB-117, unknown to Haseltine and Bolender, shares honors with BB-103 as one of the two rarest varieties of the year. The number of specimens known is a matter of conjecture. The W. Earl Spies Collection (Stack's, 1974) had two, both EF, and both of a different die state.
• NOTABLE SPECIMENS:
Blevins Specimen. EF-45. • Superior Galleries, H.W. Blevins Collection, 1988: 3699. "Both the obverse and reverse posses a lovely, rich, deep gray color punctuated by golden undertones on the obverse. The obverse is extremely well impressed and shows a most unusual doubled profile; the reo verse has extremely good detail with most of the feathers defined." • James Matthews Collection. (Coin illustrated in the present book.)
Spies Specimen. EF-40 • Stack's, W. Earl Spies Collection, 1974: 111. "Unknown to either Bolender or Haseltine. Obverse Bolender-26, reverse is new. A tiny engraver's scratch from upper right point of the shield. A massive crack starts at the rim through the right part of 'T' and terminates in a large 'mound' at juncture of left wing of eagle. Fully EF and lustrous."
Spies Specimen (another). EF-40 .• Stack's, W. Earl Spies Collection, 1974: 112. "Reverse die crack has totally bisected the reverse from 'T' to 'M' in what must be the terminal state of the dies. R-8 in the Spies Collection. EF with pale pink and iridescent toning." . Superior Galleries; H. Roland Willasch Collection, 1990: 516. "Boldly struck with original gray and pink toning throughout. Obverse is well struck even though a massive die crack appeared on the reverse which often renders the obverse strike weak. Reverse terminal die state-a pronounced die crack spans the reverse from the T in UNITED to the M of AMERICA. In the field below the left wing of the eagle the crack is really just a large area of swelling."
• POPULATION DISTRIBUTION:
Approximate population MS-65 or better: 0 (URS-O)
Approximate population MS-64: 0 (URS-0)
Approximate population MS-63: 0 (URS-0)
Approximate population MS-60 to 62: 0 (URS-0)
Approximate population AU-50 to 58: 0 (URS-0)
Approximate population VF-20 to EF-45: 4 to 8 (URS-3)
Approximate population G-4 to F-15: 1 or 2 (URS-1)
Approximate population for all grades combined: 5 to 10 (URS-4)
• CONDITION CENSUS: 40-40-40-40-12