Q. David Bowers
Causes for the removal of a pair of dollar dies from the press would have included the following: 1. Need to use the press to coin $10 pieces. 2. Need to remove a broken die. 3. Need to remove a die for relapping. 4. Closing of the Mint, as for the periodic yellow fever epidemics (at intervals 1797-1799), when dies were taken to a bank vault.
The removal of two dies at once-to make way for the coining of $10 pieces in the press, or when the Mint was closed-would have ended one striking period (see later commentary concerning striking periods). Upon reinsertion of the dollar dies, another striking period would commence.
The 327,536 dollars (bearing various dates) minted in the calendar year 1798 were delivered as follows: (not including pieces reserved for the Assay Commission; these are given in parentheses). The annotations such as "production of' represent my opinion, not proven fact:
The delivery dates are given here, with $10 gold delivery dates interspersed in italic type:
January 5: 30,372 (+3 for the Assay Commission) Production of 1795-1797 era dollars?
January 11: 1,648 gold $10.
January 18: 8,770 (+3) Production of 1795-1797 era dollars? January 20: 1,097 gold $10.
January 23: 1,464 gold $10.
January 27: 4,694 (+3) Production of1795-1797 era dollars? January 30: 2,023 gold $10.
February 16: 25,500 (+3) Production of 1795-1797 era dollars? February 17: 900 gold $10.
February 28: 842 gold $10.
March 23: 22,000 (+3) Production of 1795-1797 era dollars? April 4: 35,500 (+3) Production of1795-1797 era dollars? April 14: 3,000 (+3) Production of 1795-1797 era dollars? May 4: 39,000 (+3) Production of 1795-1797 era dollars(?) and some 1798 BB-81 and/or BB-82.
May 24: 10,000 (+3) Production of1798 BB-81 and/or BB-82 Small Eagle reverse dollars.
June 11: 37,000 (+3) Some production of 1798 BB-81 and/ or BB-82. Plus initial Heraldic Eagle dollars.
June 22: 15,000 (+3) Production of 1798-dated Heraldic Eagle dollars.
June 30: 7,370 (+3) Production of 1798-dated Heraldic Eagle dollars.
July 23: 3,000 (+1) Production of 1798-dated Heraldic Eagle dollars.
August 15: 32,720 (+3) Production of 1798-dated Heraldic Eagle dollars.
December 31: 44,610 (+3) Production of 1798-dated Heraldic Eagle dollars.
Numismatic Information
Die making: Working dies for 1798 dollars were probably prepared as follows:
Obverse: The bust of Miss Liberty was punched into the die, after which the letters of LIBERTY, the stars, and the digits in 1798 were all added with individual punches. In some instances, dies may have been made in advance with just the digits 179, with the final digit (8 or 9) to be added in the year it was used.
Reverse (Heraldic Eagle type): First, the Heraldic Eagle motif punch itself was made by an intaglio cutting of the eagle, shield, and ribbon design, after which a transfer master die or punch was raised (in relief), and the letters E PLURIBUS UNUM were individually punched in the ribbon. The master Heraldic Eagle punch included the eagle, clouds above the eagle, branch, leaves, and some rudiments of the lower parts of the arrows. This master punch, in relief, was punched into the center of the working die. Added separately to the working die were the letters of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the stars above the eagle, the olive branch, berries, the tops of the arrows, the arrowheads, and details of the lower parts of the arrows.
Attribution points for Heraldic Eagle reverse dollars: The elements on the obverse and reverse dies that were punched separately differ minutely in their placement from one another, and are a guide to attribution. The attribution points given below can be used for all varieties of the Draped Bust obverse, Heraldic Eagle reverse type dated from 1798 through 1804. Key points to check for differences include these:
KEYS TO ATTRIBUTING DRAPED BUST OF VERSE DIES:
The stars are numbered beginning to the left of the date.
On the standard 13-star obverse, star 1 is to the left of the date, and star 7 is next to the L in LIBERTY. Star 8 is adjacent to the Y in Liberty, and star 13 is near the bust. With this in mind, star positions of importance include these:
Distance of star 1 from the date and/or the lowest curl. Distance of star 7 from the L in LIBERTY.
Distance of star 8 from the Y in LIBERTY.
Distance of star 13 from the bust.
Often, a comparison can be made, such as "star 7 is closer to the L than star 8 is from the Y or star 13 is from the bust," etc.
The positions of the stars in relation to each other are important. For example, among stars 1 to 7 on the left, an examination may reveal that one or two pairs are very dose, and another pair or two are unusually widely separated. Similarly, stars 8 through 13 on the right will usually have noticeable positional differences.