2540

1797 Bust $1. 10 Stars L, 6 R

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:2,400.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
1797 Bust $1. 10 Stars L, 6 R
1797 Draped Bust Dollar. 10 stars left, 6 right. PCGS graded EF-40. Well struck with excellent detail for the grade. The surfaces are a plessing uniform medium gray. Note in particular the lovely toning shade as it accents the sharp detail and mar-free fields and devices. Surely this rates an extra strong bid for its superior quality. Pop 4; 9 finer at PCGS for the variety (PCGS # 40004) .

Historic Note: According to the Bowers-Borckhardt encyclopedia of Silver Dollar, in 1797 the number of stars on the silver dollar was increased to 16. The coinage is said by government reports to be the lowest of any year from 1795 to 1803, although now it is believed that the numbers given are incorrect. "I believe that most or all of the mintage of 7,776 coins reported for the calendar year may have been of earlier dates, and that most coins struck from dies dated 1797 were actually made in early 1798."

It is a virtual certainty that many more than 7,776 silver dollars were struck with the 1797 date. "I [Bowers] estimate the number to be 60,000 (within about 10%). As noted earlier in the present text, numerous numismatic data suggest that the mintage of 1797 must have been about on a par with that of 1796, or not significantly different. (I estimate the mintage of 1796 to have been 75,000, not far from the official government figure for the calendar year of 79,920; however, some 1796 dollars may have been struck later as well, and part of the 79,920 number may have consisted of 1795-dated dollars.)

"As the estimated 60,000 1797-dated silver dollars could not have been struck earlier than 1797, and the quantity made is almost certainly far greater than 7,776, the only remaining possibility is that they were struck later, with the calendar year 1798 being the most likely candidate."

In 1797, production problems continued at the Mint. Sporadic coinage runs for silver dollars occurred in February, late May to late June, and in August. The Mint was closed from late August to late November, due to a yellow fever outbreak. Thus, the mintage for the calendar year was very small.
Estimated Value $5,000 - 6,000.