Lot 906
1799 B-10, BB-163 Rarity 2. PCGS graded MS-61. Frosty with a hint of light gold tone. Wonderful lustrous surfaces are flourishing with neutral gray-gold toning over residual silvery brilliance. Well struck for the date, with outstanding obverse details in the full stars, finely detailed hair curls on Liberty (including an unusually full "lovelock" curl on her neck which rarely strikes well on this issue; as for the reverse details all are present and accounted for, indeed without hesitation we can say "full" details. Fully struck coins of this date are rare due to the large size of the silver dollar planchets and the amount of force it took the press operator to swing the large screw press’s "boom" handle. What a lovely coin! Pop 14; 47 finer (PCGS # 6878) .
1799 BB-163 shares the spotlight with BB-166 as one of the two most plentiful varieties of the year and it happens to be one of the best made issues this year. The Bowers encyclopedia gives a number of 1,000 to 1,800 as the number extant. "Curiously, nearly all are in lower grade levels through VF, plus a few scattered EF and AU coins. The offering of a Mint State coin should be a major event (at least, once the rarity of such is widely known). This variety must have been well distributed in the channels of commerce, or there may be some other explanation why so few high-grade coins were saved.".
Estimated Value $20,000-UP.
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| Realized $23,500 |
