Q. David Bowers
Population of 1794 dollars. The number of 1794 silver dollars known is subject to conjecture. Many pieces offered in nineteenth and early twentieth Century catalogues were not illustrated, making it difficult to trace their pedigrees with certainty today. Jack Collins, who has made a detailed study of this date, suggests 120 to 130 possibly survive.
Mint State grades: Over the years several different specimens of the 1794 dollar have been designated as Uncirculated by various cataloguers. Today, fewer than 10 coins are believed to be MS-60 or finer by current grading interpretations.
Circulated grades: Nearly all 1794 dollars seen today are in lower grades ranging from Good to Fine. Not many make the VF grade, and perhaps fewer than 15 totally are EF or better. Population report data are not particularly useful in determining the number of EF 1794 dollars known, as a number marked "EF" (or the curious "XF") are, in my opinion, only VF. There seems to have been a grade escalation in regard to this particular date.
Caveat emptor: It is apparent that possibly two dozen or more 1794 silver dollars in numismatic hands today, ostensibly normal coins exhibiting varying degrees of wear, were at one time holed, plugged, initialed, or otherwise damaged. Over the years numerous of these have been expertly repaired so as to almost defy detection. Jack Collins, in the course of his research. on dollars of this date, has found numerous instances of damaged pieces being described as such in auction catalogues, and then later reappearing as "undamaged" coins. The inescapable conclusion is that they were cleverly repaired in the meantime. Purchasers of 1794 dollars are urged to check carefully for signs of repair.
One explanation for the survival of so many impaired coins is probably that bullion dealers and others were alerted to the rare 1794 dollars by coin collectors when the hobby was in its infancy in the 1840s and 1850s. While holed and damaged dollars of other dates, such as 1795, were even more common, the bullion dealers did not extract these as they passed through their hands. However, any dollar dated 1794 was saved, no matter what the damage was. Accordingly, a higher proportion of this date survived in damaged condition in numismatic hands than any other early dollar issue of either the Flowing Hair or Draped Bust types.