|
Sale 14
|
|
press UP arrow key to increase the zoom ratio.
press DOWN arrow key to decrease the zoom ratio.
press RIGHT arrow key to increase the zoom window size.
press LEFT arrow key to decrease the zoom window size.
|
|
Lot 2348
1799 Draped Bust Dollar. 9 over 8, reverse with 15 stars. NGC graded MS-63. Certainly one of the finest examples of this popular overdate obverse which combines with the delightful corrected error reverse. The surfaces display a lovely lilac and gray tone over strong mint luster, with deep blue and green tones in the fields noted when examined with a light. Fully struck by the dies, with sharp stars on the obverse, curls on Liberty and similar on the reverse, with no signs of weakness worthy of note. Faint hairlines can be seen from a long ago wiping with a cloth or similar action, and this coin is identifiable by a small tick at the lower pocket of Liberty's throat and a horizontal line through her drapery into the field by the last star. The fifteen star reverse is unique to this one reverse die, and few are known in mint state grades. NGC reports only 5 graded this high (of both the thirteen and fifteen star reverse, as this is not differentiated on this holder) with a single coin graded higher. PCGS has graded just 1 as MS-63, with 4 graded higher, all MS-64 of this variety.
How did the fifteen star reverse come about? For a brief time, the engravers at the Philadelphia Mint added a star to the obverse and/or reverse as each new state joined the Union. This continued until Tennessee joined as the sixteenth state in 1796, and many silver and gold coins display 16 stars. At this point, Mint officials decided to return to the 13 stars to represent the thirteen original colonies. By 1799 most of the dies had been discarded which showed more than 13 stars, except for a couple of accidents where too many stars were engraved. Here is one of those accidents, apparently the die engraver put 7 stars in the top row, another 6 in the second row, then added the usual two stars on either side of the eagle's head, for a total of 15 stars. The error was noticed, but what to do? An ingenious solution was found, why not cover over two of the offending stars, but how? The engraver came up with a unique solution, he expanded the first and last cloud over the first row of stars to cover over the offending stars! Thus, only 13 stars now show, but the enlarged clouds show star points sticking out from the bottoms giving away the error. Die steel was quite expensive, and each die took time to engrave, so it was better to use this die rather than discard it. Later, this fifteen star reverse die was paired with a second obverse, and more coins were struck before it was retired. Here is one of the most popular "error" reverse dies, in choice mint state condition for your consideration.
Estimated Value $20,000-UP.
|
| |
| Realized $26,450 |
|
