Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia

Numismatic Information

General commentary: All dates of Draped Bust obverse, Small Eagle reverse dollars from 1795 through early 1798 primarily exist in lower grades. Some die varieties are rarities in EF or better.

In catalogues of years ago it was popular to call the obverse design the Fillet Head or Fillet Bust, fillet meaning ribbon and pertaining to the band tying Miss Liberty's hair at the back of her head.

Die preparation: The engraver's work on the obverse die was accomplished in this order: 1. The Draped Bust portrait of MISS Liberty was punched into the center of the blank die made of soft steel. 2. The letters of LIBERTY and 15 stars were added around the border by use of individual punches, 3. The date 1795 was punched one digit at a time below the bust.

The reverse die was made in this order: 1. The new Small Eagle on clouds motif was punched into the center of the plank die, The wreath punch, Partially finished, and lacking most olive leaves and all berries and stems.. and some palm leaves, was punched into the die. 3. Berries and their stems were added to the wreath, leaves were added to the olive branch and palm branch, details were added to the top of the cloud, leaves were added and/or strengthened on the cloud below the eagle's left (on observer's right) wing, which then appeared to ,the observer's left. on the coin, and the letters of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA were punched in.

The obverse portrait punch is of high quality and is superbly engraved, with a wealth of minute detail, Whoever made it, Robert Scot or John Eckstein! was extremely skilled. The reverse punch of the Small Eagle on billowy clouds is likewise superbly done; The wreath is sophisticated as well. The left side of the wreath, with olive leaves, bears a stylistic resemblance to the WII wreath of 1795 (three leaves beneath each wing), as the individual leaf elements are similar in appearance, with raised or outlined edges.

Availability: As a class) 1795 Draped Bust dollars are considerably scarcer than are Flowing Hair dollars. Neither of the two Draped Bust varieties, BB-51 and BB-52, is a, rarity. Both are readily available in middle grade ranges. In AU or better grades, BB-51 is seen much more often than BB-52. It is believed that BB-51 was the first struck.

Varieties

1795 Draped Bust. BB-51

(B-14. H-14)
• OBVERSE 10: Bust of Miss Liberty facing right, the hair tied up in a ribbon at back. The bust was not properly centered in the die work, being placed too far to the left. The highest wave of the hair is under the B of Liberty. Lowest curl is distant from 1 in 1795. Star 1 touches curl.

Obverse die used to strike 1795 BB-51 only.

• REVERSE K: Small Eagle, differently styled than on any of the preceding varieties. Small Letters in legend. Eagle stands on clouds. Wreath is composed of a palm branch (right) and olive branch (left), the latter with seven berries. A short, prominent die scratch extends up to left from tip of right, inside leaf below (observer's) left wing. Berry under A of STATES; a quick way to identify this reverse.

This reverse die is one of the most remarkable in all of American numismatics, and was mated with obverse dies bearing four different dates. The features are cut in shallow relief, and the rim is low. Thus, all impressions from the die appear somewhat flat, a situation particularly evident on coins in VF or lower grades. The shallow relief does not materially affect the appearance of higher grade coins, which often have exquisite detail, including a full complement of eagle feathers.

Reverse die used to strike 1795 BB-51; 1796 BB-62, BB-63, and BB-66 (now relapped); 1797 BB-72; and 1798 BB-81.

• DIE STATES:
Die State I: Perfect dies. The only state known. The denticulation is often weak at the border, especially below the wreath. Some specimens are ever so slightly struck off center, due to alignment of the dies in the press (not to the positioning of individual planchets); these typically are weak at the bottom of the reverse, but have long, prominent denticles at the top (the situation is the opposite on the obverse, with weakness at the top border and strength at the bottom); in this situation, from stars 7 through 10 and at LIBERTY; also, as metal movement was less in such areas of light striking, planchet adjustment marks are often seen at the upper obverse.

• AUCTION POPULATION SURVEY: Less than Good: 2, Good: 4, Very Good: 11, Fine: 41, Very Fine: 85, Extremely Fine: 45, About Uncirculated: 39, Mint State-60 or better: 35. Total: 262.

• COLLECTING NOTES: 1795 BB-51 is one of the most abundant varieties of the 1795 year and runs third only to the BB-27 and BB-21 Flowing Hair varieties. Almost certainly, well over 1,000 specimens exist. I estimate the number to be between 1,400 and 2,000.

I believe the BB-51 to be the earlier of the two Draped Bust varieties dated 1795, as evidenced by the following: 1. The Draped Bust motif on the obverse was placed slightly to the left of where it should have been; this was corrected for the next variety, BB-52, and on all later dates of the type. 2. BB-51 exists in high grades in significantly larger numbers than does BB-52, and most of these are prooflike-indicating that some may have been made as presentation specimens of the new Draped Bust obverse, Small Eagle reverse design. Indicative of the availability of the issue, at the 1993 Florida United Numismatists Convention, dealer Ed Milas had three high-level Mint State coins on display.