23490

1796 S$1 Small Date, Large Letters. B-6, BB-64, R.8--D 1796[S$1] Small Date, Large Letters. B-6, BB-

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1796 S$1 Small Date, Large Letters. B-6, BB-64, R.8--D 1796[S$1] Small Date, Large Letters. B-6, BB-
<B>1796<S$1> Small Date, Large Letters. B-6, BB-64, R.8--Damaged--NCS. XF Details.</B></I> Small, wide date, evenly spaced; Berry under right foot of A in STATES. Reiver die state a. Bowers-Borckardt die state III. The obverse of this very rare coin has been damaged with several radial scratches which have been partially smoothed out and the obverse buffed down. A similar scratch has been smoothed on the reverse and this extends from the right wing of the eagle down his chest and out the rim near the U. A numismatic tragedy as this is one of only three specimens known of this variety. All three examples of this die variety show the same dramatic die crack on the reverse, where the right quarter of the coin is very sharply struck, while the left three quarters is much weaker in strike. The reverse die had split into two separate pieces with the right side being dramatically lower (hence the sharper strike), than the left side. Obviously, not many were coined and the reverse die was retired. Of all known die cracks in the Bust Dollar series, this may be the most dramatic and severe known, as no others show as much differentiation between the planes of the surface level of the fields. Several 1796 dies show rather dramatic failure (all coin series) and the die steel obtained for 1796 was apparently somewhat inferior. It is quite possible that a perfect die example exists, awaiting discovery. No evidence is seen as to why the die would crack in such a dramatic fashion. Perhaps the reverse die was not perfectly aligned with the obverse, which put all the striking pressure on the left side of the reverse, causing the die to crack into two separate planes, weakening the left side of the reverse while the right side of the reverse compensated by moving down to a lower plane.<BR> While the surfaces are clearly damaged, particularly the obverse, one must be willing to accept such problem coins if examples of these rare varieties are to be obtained. In some cases, the only surviving example is damaged as seen on some of the rare 1795 Flowing Hair dollar varieties. In most cases the truly rare varieties in the Early Dollar series are represented by coins which are holed, plugged or scratched. Jules speculated that this particular coin may have been "canceled" at the Mint, which is an interesting theory, but no proof exists. Most likely this coin suffered the scratches sometime after it was struck and in the span of time was later repaired by smoothing and buffing to reduce the visual impact of the scratches. The following is a listing of the known specimens of this variety. <BR><I>1. Damaged--XF. Ex: The present example. K.P. Austin of Salisbury, Maryland; Jacque and A.J. Ostheimer, 3rd Collection; 1975 ANA Sale (Superior), lot 823; then into the collection of Jules Reiver.<BR>2. VF. Ex: Emanuel Taylor Collection; Hollinbeck-Kagin Fixed Price List, ca. 1959, lot 19; Greenwald and Jackson Collections Sale (Bowers and Merena, 9/95), lot 1249, where it realized $36,300; John Whitney Collection (Mr. 1796), (Stack's, 5/99), lot 1249.<BR></B></I> The pedigree for the #1 specimen was drawn from the Bowers-Borckardt reference, page 240. The pedigree for the #2 specimen was supplied by W. David Perkins, and an award-winning article on that coin appeared in the January 1998 issue of <I>The John Reich Journal.</B></I> A piece once believed to be the second known B-6 from the World's Greatest Collection later turned out to be a late die state of BB-65.<BR><I>3. Damaged--Fine. A recent discovery coin found in a large consignment of early dollars in early 2000. That coin has at least one plug and possibly three plugs which have been repaired and the surfaces are whizzed, ANACS net grade G-6. Heritage Long Beach (June, 2000) lot 7737 at $11,500; Heritage Long Beach (June, 2005) lot 6587 at $18,400.</B></I> Envelope Included.