1519

1799 Bust $1 NGC MS64

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:32,000.00 USD Estimated At:65,000.00 - 75,000.00 USD
1799 Bust $1 NGC MS64
1799. B-16; BB-158. Rarity 2. NGC graded MS-64. Boldly struck with interesting die cracks; all, with lovely delicate toning. Identifiable by a toned spot on the eagle's lower beak. A remarkable early Dollar irrespective of type, date or die pairing, this 1799 Draped Bust glistens with a hard, satiny white sheen under the color as the coin is held and tilted under a light. Much of the reverse is brilliant. It is dappled olive-russet and charcoal-gray though this is generally confined to the lower periphery and within the shield. The obverse has more widely dispersed color, although here too flecks of olive-russet and charcoal-copper patina are present, also along the rim. We detect some pale champagne-pink throughout the obverse that is really not evident on the other side of the coin. Switching to the finer details, stars 3-4 on the obverse possess the only lack of sharpness, leaving the balance of the devices with a firm-to-sharp blow from the dies. The coin is fairly well centered on both sides, with only the 10-11 o'clock position on the reverse having the denticles less elongated.

BB-158 is among the more readily available die varieties of the 1799 Draped Bust Dollar. Readily obtainable in all grades up to and including About Uncirculated, the population dwindles above this grade. Despite the advent of third-party grading, which drew out many thousands of coins that lay hidden in old-time collections, the BB-158 variety remains rare in Mint State. And at the near-Gem level we are offering here the coin certainly qualifies for the upper reaches of the Condition Census. The coin also ranks among the finest-known survivors of the issue as a whole, further escalating its choice for inclusion in the finest cabinet. As there are no conspicuous abrasions on either side, we are unable to offer any further pedigree markers aside from the aforementioned pattern of toning and the little tone spot at the eagle's beak. Pop 13; 5 finer for the date, 4 in 65, 1 in 66.

Note: In the Bowers Silver Dollar Encyclopedia, only six Mint State examples and one About Uncirculated 58 were listed in the Notable Specimens section. That section was compiled from an extensive review of many hundred auction catalogs, mostly from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, along with inventories from several prominent early dollar collectors at the time. While not intended to be a "Condition Census," it provides an excellent indicator for numismatists.
Estimated Value $65,000 - 75,000.