Lot 1181
1800 Draped Bust Dollar. VF-30 or better. A rare die state of this underappreciated variety! The obverse die cracked apart, quickly terminating its use soon after this one was struck. Note the heavy die crack through the B of LIBERTY to the first star, and another through the 1 in the date up into Liberty's hair, other small cracks are present too. Die swelling at Liberty's ribbon, with no definition at the back, as seen on this die state. Curiously, the coin does not appear to be round, the obverse die shattered before this one was struck and cracks can be seen through the date to the top, with severe die swelling on Liberty's ribbon. It is apparent that the coin is not perfectly round, and it is likely that the dies were also out of round and produced a slightly elliptical coin. Other late die state examples of this coin have this same unusual feature. The reverse die is rotated counter clockwise about 20 degrees. Silvery gray in color,with just a bit of toning, and traces of luster are noted in the protected areas. One small toning streak between TY of LIBERTY should help trace the pedigree. This variety was missing from the Blevins collection, and many other specialists have had difficulty in locating a nice specimen beyond what is expected for the rarity assigned.
Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,500.
From Bowers & Merena's LaRiviere Part II sale, March 2001, lot 348 and the John Haugh collection.
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| Realized $1,898 |
