Lot 1563
1796 Draped Bust Dollar. . BB-65, B-5. NGC graded AU-55. Well struck with nice lilac and gold toning. A gorgeous specimen with suggestions of underlying luster and attractive toning highlights. Surfaces are immaculate! Nicely struck, too, with extraordinary sharpness at the hair curls and drapery on the obverse, the wreath and eagle on the reverse.
Most specimens show light striking at stars 2 and 3 (due to metal requirements to fill the defect at I opposite in the dies in the press). However a few, such as this specimen, show full star detail, possibly since the reverse die break had barely begun when the coin was made. A strong bid is called for. Pop 2; 3 finer for the varity at NGC.
For this draped bust style, the Mint Director DeSaussure engaged the illustrious portraitist Gilbert Stuart, who submitted a (now lost) drawing of Mrs. William Bingham (nee Ann Willing) as Liberty. John Eckstein, a local artist, translated this into "models" for Robert Scot, the mint's engraver. The "second model" referred to in archival records is likely to have been the small eagle on clouds. Use of olive and palm branches in the wreath, according to Breen, "probably represents a bow to DeSaussure's Southern origins."
Estimated Value $15,000 - 20,000.
Ex. Dr. Hesselgesser.
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