Lot 1655
1799/8 Draped Bust Dollar. 15 stars on reverse. NGC graded AU-53. A few reverse marks. Well struck. A pleasing Heraldic Eagle Silver Dollar of this famous (among American collectors) Draped Bust design. The surfaces acquired natural light gray patina over the still hard-working luster beneath in the years since the Mint issued it. Some slight strike weakness of strike is seen at the central hair curls. However, no such diminution occurs on the eagle's wing feathers, shield lines, tail feathers, or legends of the reverse of this handsome coin. An offering to excite the Bust Dollar collector, that is a sure thing.
This Red Book variety has two interesting points that will draw attention: the first is the clear 9 over 8 overdate (in those days, budget limits at the new Mint forced economy measures such as this whereas nowadays, any attempt to issue a "mistake" coin would result in official reprimand from the bosses. The second point where this BB-141 variety differs from others in the set is the presence of two addition stars on the reverse, bringing the correct number of 13 stars up to an erroneous 15. One of them is 90% hidden under the left-most cloud as if the wind had drifted the cloud across the horizon just where it appears. The other is barely poking out a single ray from beneath the cloud on the right. Collectors discovered this anomoly a century ago and the editors of The Guide Book of United States Coin dutifully put the variety into their Red Book.
Estimated Value $6,000 - 6,500.
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| Realized $6,555 |
