Q. David Bowers
In calendar year 1796, coinage deliveries were as follows, for a total of 72,920 pieces:
January 30: 4,550 (+2; parenthetical numbers are additional pieces for the Assay Commission)
February 13: 390 (+1)
March 30: 2,777 (0)
April 9: 2,222 (+1)
May 9: 6,354 (+3)
May 27: 378 (+1)
June 14: 10,509 (+1)
June 28: 941 (+1)
July 21; 8,750 (+3)
July 29: 1,720 (+3)
August 27: 1l,485 (+3)
September 1: 1,580 (+3)
September 14: 8,391 (+3)
October 17: 8,103 (+3)
December 22: 4,770 (+3)
From the foregoing it is seen that deliveries of silver dollars were spread throughout the year. There is no known way of matching the above dates with die usage. All that can be said with certainty is that the dollars delivered were dated either 1795 (from leftover dies) or 1796.
Whether dies remained fixed in the press (the largest press at the Mint, acquired in spring 1795, was used to strike dollars) probably depended upon whether the press was needed to strike $10 gold eagles, which were struck on several occasions during the year (as gold deposits warranted).
$10 EAGLE GOLD COINS DELIVERED IN CALENDAR YEAR 1796:
January 9: 1,181 January 30: 134 March 19: 1,169 March 31: 116 June 2: 2,232 June 21: 960
Interfiling the delivery dates for silver dollars with those of $10 eagles yields the following:
January 9: 1,181 ($10 gold eagles)
January 3,0: 134 ($10 gold, eagles) January 30: 4,550 (+2)
February 13: 390 (+1)
March 19: 1,169 ($10 gold eagles) March 30: 2,777 (0)
March 31: 116 ($10 gold eagles) April 9: 2,222 (+1)
May 9: 6,354 (+3)
May 27: 378 (+1)
June 2: 2,232 ($10 gold eagles) June 14: 10,509(+1)
June 21: 960 ($10 gold eagles) June 28: 941 (+1)
July 21: 8,750 (+3)
July 29: 1,720 (+3)
August 27: 11,485 (+3)
September 1: 1,580 (+3)
September 14: 8,391 (+3)
October 17: 8,103 (+3)
December 22: 4,770 (+3)
The preceding shows that if the dollar press was used to coin $10 gold coins, there were several periods in which dollar dies could have remained fixed in the press, between dollar delivery dates. For example, after June 21, dollar dies could have remained in the press continuously.
How the "striking periods" mentioned earlier might have fit into the preceding listing of delivery dates is unknown. There is also the strong possibility that some 1796-dated dollars were struck later. If this is the case, perhaps some of the "striking periods" took place in, say, 1798. Further, as noted under the 1795 die studies, there is a distinct possibility that the dollar press, which was intended for silver dollars and large medals, was not used for $10 gold coins at all (for these were about the same diameter as the half dollar and were in softer alloy; half dollars were struck on a smaller press).