Lot 943
1800 Draped Bust Dollar. "AMERICAI". PCGS graded MS-63 B-19, BB-192, Rarity 2. Frosty silver gray on the obverse with glinting heather gold accents and a beautiful example of full, flashy, spinning "cartwheel effect" throughout the luster. The reverse is similarly accoutered, as the luster flashes from side to side when the coin is tilted. Reflective of the high quality is the smooth, satiny luster covering the entire portrait and eagle. Nothing diminishes the beauty nor the sparkle of this rare specimen. It is simply beautiful!
Switching tracks, we see that the devices on the coin are very well struck, none of the usual weakness occurs at the center of obverse device. The reverse has a sharp shield, too with both horizontal lines and vertical stripes needle-sharp under a magnifying glass. Again, pristine fields are free of notable marks. We do see a single small tick on Liberty's temple, that is about all. This coin is one of only two Mint State 63 AMERICAI pieces graded by PCGS. A world-class early dollar that in another sale would be a fantastic highlight all its own. Pop 2; None finer at PCGS. (PCGS # 6892) .
The AMERICAI reverse is shared by two obverses as BB-191 and BB-192. After the word AMERICA, an almost vertical line, a stray mark, apparently, not a die crack, perhaps from a punch or from a stray piece of metal during the die making process, appears more or less like an "I" added. There are no serifs on this stray mark, but in the mind's eye it is easy to see why collectors long ago dubbed it a letter "I." The nomenclature has been with us for a long time. In the words of the Bowers encyclopedia, "Nowhere else in the silver dollar series has a stray die mark done so much for a coin's value and desirability in the eyes of collectors." 1800 BB-192 is one of the more populous varieties of the year in circulated grades. An estimated 600 to 1,100 exist. The BB-192 is the commoner of the two varieties with AMERICAI reverse (the other being BB-191, mentioned above). Examples are available in all basic grade ranges, with most being in the Very Fine category.
Estimated Value $100,000 - 115,000.
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