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1797 Draped Bust S$1. 9X7 Sm. letters BB-72 NGC EF45

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:30,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD
1797 Draped Bust S$1. 9X7 Sm. letters BB-72 NGC EF45
Of all 1797 varieties, the BB-72 is at once the rarest, best known, and most sought after. This issue occupies its own niche in numismatic literature, where it has been showcased as a rarity for decades! 16 stars, arranged 9 to the left and 7 to the right. Highest wave of hair, below upright of E, is lightly defined, probably due to insufficient depth of punching of the Draped Bust motif into the die (and not due to relapping). Prominent lump in field below star 9. Heavy die file lines in front of neck. One is vertical with several others slanting down to right. This obverse die was used to strike 1797 BB-72 (earlier) and BB-73 (later). The reverse has small letters in the legend, and is from a long-lived die used to strike 1795 BB-51; 1796 BB-62, BB-43, and BB-46 (now relapped); 1797 BB-72; and 1798 BB-81!

1797 BB-72 has been subjected to widely varying estimates of rarity over the years, with some observers stating that only about 20 are known, and others ranking the population at Sheldon's Rarity-4 (76 to 200). The latter is probably closer to the truth. Bowers suggests that 200 to 300 exist today. Although now out of print and getting expensive, no collector of these handsome bust dollars should be without the Bowers-Borckhardt reference on silver dollars, a massive two-volume compendium covering every aspect of die varieties, historical reference material, and studied observations by the authors. (#6866)<p><i>The Gonzaga Collection</i>