1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar. BB-1, B-1. Rarity-4. MS-63+ (PCGS). CAC. CMQ.BB Die State III. The silver dollar was authorized by the Act of April 2, 1792, that also established the United States Mint and created our nations coinage. While not the highest denomination coin authorized by that act, the silver dollar was obviously the most important as it was the standard unit upon which the United States monetary system would be based. All other coins struck in the United States Mint from the 1790s to the present day are either fractional parts of the dollar or multiples of that unit. The silver dollar is, without a doubt, the most popular and widely collected coin ever struck in the United States Mint, and is eagerly sought by both advanced numismatists and the general public as a historic treasure, a cherished collectible and (for common date examples of the later Morgan and Peace types) a storehouse of wealth for those with an interest in owning silver bullion.
The most important silver dollar ever struck - and also one of the rarest - is the 1794 Flowing Hair. The first coin of its kind and a major numismatic rarity in all grades with a net mintage of just 1,758 pieces, the 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar is a coin of which legends are made. Survivors are always greeted with eager anticipation when they are offered for sale either through auction or via private treaty. Such is the importance and popularity of the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar that it has been honored with the #3 ranking in the widely distributed book <em>100 Greatest U.S. Coins</em> by Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth (fifth edition, 2019).
The design of the nations first silver dollar was entrusted to Engraver Robert Scot, whose obverse features the most mature evolution of the Flowing Hair Liberty portrait that was first featured on Augustin Dupres Libertas Americana medal of 1782. By the time Dupres Liberty found her way onto the silver dollar, however, she had been turned to the right and no longer displayed the liberty pole and cap. The basic design is superficially similar to its earliest inception, nonetheless, with Libertys hair free flowing along the back of her head and neck, thus explaining the widely used Flowing Hair name. Scots dollar obverse also exhibits 15 stars arranged around the border eight left, seven right in honor of the number of states that made up the Union in 1794, as well as the word LIBERTY at the upper border and the date at the lower.
The reverse of the Flowing Hair silver dollar mirrors Scots work for the Flowing Hair half dime and half dollar. A spread-wing eagle is surrounded by two branches bound at their base by a thin ribbon with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border. Curiously, the denomination is not featured on either the obverse or reverse of the Flowing Hair silver dollar - something that might appear as a sign of ineptitude on the part of early Mint employees to someone familiar with United States coinage of the 21st century. The omission was intentional, however, as United States coinage was new to the world market of the 18th century. In order to facilitate the coins acceptance in as many quarters as possible, therefore, the Mint omitted the denomination from the design and opted to let the silver dollars weight and precious metal content establish its value. For those willing to look closer, nonetheless, they would find the denomination on the edge, which for Flowing Hair silver dollars is lettered HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT with decorations between the words.
By the time Mint employees had posted the necessary bonds to begin working with precious metals - which was not until 1794, even though the silver dollar had been authorized by Congress in 1792 - Mint Director David Rittenhouse wanted to begin production of these coins as soon as possible. His decision was a bold one, for the press he had on hand was better suited for striking smaller coins such as dimes, quarters and half dollars. Additionally, he could have opted to strike additional half dimes to follow on the heels of the 1792 half disme (coins that George Washington described as a small beginning to the nations coinage after they were struck at another facility prior to establishment of the first Mint building). In recognition of the silver dollars status as the basic unit of our national currency and the largest coin authorized by the Act of April 2, 1792, however, Rittenhouse insisted that it be the first precious metal coin struck in the United States Mint.
Difficulties in achieving Rittenhouses goal arose immediately because bullion was lacking. The early United States Mint did not strike silver and gold coins on its own account but, rather, was dependent upon private deposits of these precious metals. The first deposit of silver to arrive at the United States Mint came from the Bank of Maryland on July 18, 1794. Composed of French coins, Assayer Albion Coxs tests of the metals fineness averaged just .737 fine, meaning the deposit would have to be heavily refined to bring it up to the congressionally mandated .8924 standard for silver coinage. With the refining department understaffed, Rittenhouse made a bold choice: rather than follow the letter of the law, whereby depositors received finished coins based upon the order of their initial deposits, Rittenhouse himself jumped the line. On August 29, 1794, he made two deposits, composed of silver ingots of relatively fine purity (.900 and .8665 fine) that added up to $2001.33 worth of silver, or enough to strike almost exactly 2,000 silver dollars.
On October 15, 1794, Chief Coiner Henry Voigt delivered 1,758 silver dollars to David Rittenhouse, representing the entire mintage for the year. The Mints workmen could have struck all of these coins in a single afternoon, using a press ill-suited for the rigors of striking the large diameter dies. Rittenhouse later received $242.50 in half dollars, plus six half dimes, to complete the total initial deposit, but according to traditional numismatic wisdom the original mintage of 1794 dollars amounted to 2,000 coins. Proponents of this theory believe that the remaining 242 examples were judged to be underweight and/or too poorly struck to be released, the coins either remelted or used as planchets for 1795-dated silver dollars. At least one poorly struck 1794 dollar was used as a planchet for a 1795 dollar, but since that coins discovery in the 1960s no other examples have come to light. If the original mintage of the 1794 dollar was 2,000 pieces, the remaining 242 or so coins were almost certainly remelted. Alternatively, the total mintage might be just 1,758 pieces, the failure of the press under the rigors of striking these large coins ending the days work prematurely and prompting the chief coiner to make up the balance of Rittenhouses bullion deposits in half dollars and half dimes, as related above. We will never know for sure because no details were recorded and no ceremony was held, despite the historical significance of the event.
Indeed, even those 1794 dollars that were deemed acceptable for distribution exhibit many of the difficulties with coinage operations suffered by the early United States Mint. Virtually all the known examples are softly struck to one degree or another at the left obverse and reverse borders. This is due not only to the Mints use of a press that was initially intended for smaller-size coins, but also because the dies eventually slipped and became misaligned in the press. On some 1794 dollars the misalignment is so pronounced that the date can be difficult to discern. Additionally, many examples display adjustment marks that represent the Mints filing down of overweight planchets to make them conform to the legally specified weight range for this issue. While these adjustment marks are often innocuous, they are sometimes so numerous as to severely compromise one or more elements of a coins design.
Regardless of striking quality or level of preservation, a 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar is an extremely important numismatic find, and the ownership of even a low grade or impaired example is the mark of an important collection. Writing in the 2010 edition of the reference <em>The Flowing Hair Silver Dollars of 1794: An Historical and Population Census Study</em>, Martin Logies accounts for a surviving population of only 134 distinct examples. A more liberal estimate would be between 135 and 150 coins extant, which range actually represents a rather high percentage of the mintage based upon most statistical survivorship models of early American coins. This high percentage reflects the early date at which collectors placed a premium on 1794 dollars, thus saving low grade specimens that would have been consigned to the melting pot if they were of any other date. Indeed, many of the known examples are significantly impaired due to cleaning, repairs, edge damage, or other problems.
Even most problem free 1794 Flowing Hair dollars that have survived did so only after acquiring some degree of wear. Indeed, in Mint State this issue is a landmark rarity. Exactly how many Uncirculated 1794 dollars are extant is a matter of debate as fluctuating grading standards over the years have resulted in some specimens alternating between About Uncirculated and Mint State grades. Six of the following seven specimens are universally recognized by numismatic experts as Mint State 1794 silver dollars, with the seventh long noted among Mint State 1794 dollars certified by PCGS and NGC, although it is ranked either CC#8 or CC#9 by Martin Logies in his exhaustive census studies on this issue published in 2010 and 2014.
1 - <strong>PCGS/CAC Specimen-66.</strong> Ex Virgil Brand Collection; James Kellys Fixed Price List #20, 1945; C. David Pierce; Art & Paul Kagin; B. Max Mehls sale of the Will W. Neil Collection, June 1947, lot 1; our (Stacks) sale of the Amon G. Carter Family Collection, January 1984, lot 207; Hugh Sconyers for the American Rare Coin Fund Limited Partnership; Superiors Hoagy Carmichael and Wayne Miller Collections sale, January 1986, lot 1173; Superiors sale of An Amazing Collection of United States Silver Dollars, May 1991, lot 699; Knoxville Collection, sold by private treaty to Jay Parrino; Steve Contursi, acquired via private treaty; Cardinal Collection, acquired via private treaty, May 2010; our sale of the Cardinal Collection, January 2013, lot 13094, where it realized a record price of $10,016,875.
2 - <strong>CACG MS-67.</strong> Ex Colonel E.H.R. Green; F.C.C. Boyd Collection; Numismatic Gallerys sale of the Worlds Greatest Collection (Boyd), 1945, lot 1; Adolph Friedman; Charles Williams; Numismatic Gallerys ANA Convention Sale of August 1949, lot 140; Beverly Hills Stamp & Coin Shops (Abe Kosoff and Max Justus) Fixed Price List of 1957; Numismatic Gallerys ANA Convention Sale of August 1958, lot 1678; James Kelly; Lelan Rogers; our (Stacks) session of Numisma 95, November 1995, lot 1315; Jay Parrino; The Mints (Jay Parrino) Fixed Price List of 1996; Stellar Collection.
3 - <strong>PCGS/CAC MS-66+.</strong> Ex William Strickland Collection; Charles Winn (husband of Priscilla Strickland, son-in-law and cousin of William Strickland), by sale, 1834; Rowland Winn, 1st Baron St. Oswald of Nostell, by descent, 1874; Rowland Winn, 2nd Baron St. Oswald of Nostell, by descent, 1893; Rowland George Winn, 3rd Baron St. Oswald of Nostell, by descent, 1919; Rowland Denys Guy Winn, Major the Lord St. Oswald, M.C., by descent, 1957; Christie, Manson, and Woods, Ltd.s sale of English, Foreign, and Important American Coins, the Property of Major the Lord St. Oswald, M.C., October 1964, lot 138; Jacque C. (Mrs. Alfred) Ostheimer Collection; Jacque C. (Mrs. Alfred) Ostheimer to Superior Stamp and Coin Company, by sale, September 29, 1969; Edwards Huntington Metcalf Collection; Superior Stamp and Coin Companys Clarke E. Gilhousen sale, Part III, October 1973, lot 1209; Jonathon Hefferlin; our (Bowers and Ruddys) sale of the Newport Collection, January 1975, lot 371; Julian Leidman to Michael Kirzner to Bowers and Ruddy Galleries to Phil Herres (DollarTowne); Leon Hendrickson (SilverTowne), by sale, via John Dannreuther, January 1983; Jimmy Hayes Collection; our (Stacks) sale of the Jimmy Hayes Collection of United States Silver Coins, October 1985, lot 72, via David Akers, to the following; D. Brent Pogue; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II, September 2015, lot 2041.
4 - <strong>PCGS/CAC MS-64.</strong> Ex William Strickland Collection; Charles Winn (husband of Priscilla Strickland, son-in-law and cousin of William Strickland), by sale, 1834; Rowland Winn, 1st Baron St. Oswald of Nostell, by descent, 1874; Rowland Winn, 2nd Baron St. Oswald of Nostell, by descent, 1893; Rowland George Winn, 3rd Baron St. Oswald of Nostell, by descent, 1919; Rowland Denys Guy Winn, Major the Lord St. Oswald, M.C., by descent, 1957; Christie, Manston & Woods sale of English, Foreign and Important American Coins, the Property of Major the Lord St. Oswald, M.C., October 1964, lot 137; Lester Merkin, on behalf of the following; Ambassador & Mrs. R. Henry Norweb; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of the Norweb Collection, Part III, November 1988, lot 3741; A Cabinet of Rarities, our (Bowers and Merenas) Rare Coin Review Issue No. 78, 1990, lot 129; Hugh Sconyers for the American Rare Coin Fund Limited Partnership, 1992; William Morton-Smith; our ANA Auction of August 2017, lot 2113.
5 - <strong>PCGS/CAC MS-63+.</strong> Ex Virgil Brand; B. Max Mehl (1930s); F.C.C. Boyd Collection duplicate, sold privately by Numismatic Gallery at the time of the Worlds Greatest Collection sale; (our) Stacks Fixed Price List No. 47, 1950; B.M. Eubanks; Quality Sales auction of September 1973, lot 464; Abner Kreisbergs Collectors Portfolio Public Coin Auction, October 1978, lot 633; our (Bowers and Ruddys) Fixed Price List No. 41, 1981; Steves Ivys Charmont Sale, October 1983, lot 3769; our (Bowers and Merenas) Somerset Collection sale, May 1992, lot 1300; Jeff Isaac; The Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, and displayed as part of the Cardinal Collection of Early Dollars at the 2001, 2002 and 2004 ANA Conventions; our (American Numismatic Rarities) sale of the Cardinal Collection, June 2005, lot 5; private collector; reacquired by the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, 2008, and featured in a complete Mint Set of 1794 coinage; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of Selections from the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, August 2010 Boston Rarities Sale, lot 1005; Heritage Auctions; Bruce Morelan; Legend Numismatics; private collector. <em><strong>The present example</strong></em>.
6 - <strong>PCGS/CAC MS-62+.</strong> Ex Paramounts session of Auction 84, July 1984, lot 725; our (Stacks) sale of the L.R. French, Jr. Family Collection of United States Silver Dollars, January 1989, lot 2; Gary Minsey Collection; private Midwestern collection.
7 - <strong>NGC MS-62+.</strong> Ex Austrian private collection (or possibly the Paris Mint Collection or that of the Bibliotheque Nationale); Paul H. Wittlin; James Kellys ANA sale of 1956, lot 1509; Stacks; private owner, repurchased by the following in 1975; Stacks; Julian Leidman and Mike Brownlee; Paul Nugget; Dave Berg; private owner; our (Bowers and Ruddys) Dr. Edward B. Willing Collection sale, June 1976, lot 412; Superiors Father Flanagans Boys Home Sale, May 1990, lot 3875; Larry H. Miller; our sale of the Larry H. Miller Collection, December 2020 Auction, lot 1089.
This is the famous Boyd-Cardinal specimen of the historic and rare 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar. As previously stated, all examples of this issue were struck from a single die pair. Logies reference identifies five different die states, however, and the present example was coined from the middle state (Die State III). Clash marks (as struck) are present in the obverse field both before and after Libertys portrait. They are not as bold as we would expect to see in a Die State II example, however, as the obverse die was reground to lessen the visual effect of the clash marks. The refinishing of the die also attenuated the ends of Libertys hair curls, particularly the third one. Clash marks from Libertys portrait are also evident in the reverse field within the wreath and around the eagle.
The surfaces of this coin are nearly Choice Mint State in quality, and also nearly pristine by the standards of the issue. Both sides are brilliant with a softly frosted finish that is more vibrant than that seen in any of the other Mint State 1794 dollars. We even note cartwheel-like qualities to the finish that are not unlike those seen on many Morgan silver dollars of 1878 to 1921. This coin is also remarkably well struck, and nearly complete in this regard. Both sides are expertly centered on the planchet with full, boldly denticulated borders around both sides. Libertys hair on the obverse and the eagles plumage on the reverse are particularly sharp in delineation. Softness of strike at the left obverse and reverse borders is minimal for the issue, and it is directly attributable to both the later state of the dies and (probably) also slight misalignment of the dies in the press. Significantly, the date is fully readable with the digits 17 bold and the digits 94 nothing short of sharp. Both sides are nearly pristine as far as post-production marks and other distractions are concerned. In fact, it is only as-struck features that preclude an even higher Mint State grade. These include a shallow obverse planchet flaw at star 3, a smaller planchet flake at star 6, a series of light adjustment marks at the reverse border from the letter N in UNITED to the letter E in STATES, and a few faint planchet streaks on the reverse at the letters AM in AMERICA. All of these features are very common for 1794 silver dollars, and they are important in establishing and tracing the pedigree of this piece.
The Cardinal Collections acquisition of the Neil-Carter-Contursi-Cardinal specimen (#1 in the Condition Census) in May 2010 resulted in the release of this coin through our (Bowers and Merenas) August 2010 Boston Rarities Sale. We are now pleased to provide another advanced collector with the opportunity to acquire the F.C.C. Boyd-Cardinal specimen of the 1794 silver dollar. This coin is comfortably ranked among the finest known examples of the issue, and is an extreme rarity in such a high level of preservation and with such impressive striking quality. Representing perhaps a once in a lifetime buying opportunity, once this coin is sold it may be many years before one of the other Mint State 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollars is made available for purchase. A leading highlight of this sale, and one of the most significant silver dollars of any type or date that we have ever had the privilege of bringing to auction.PCGS# 6851. NGC ID: 24WY.Property of a Texas Gentleman. Earlier ex Virgil Brand; B. Max Mehl (1930s); F.C.C. Boyd Collection duplicate, sold privately by Numismatic Gallery at the time of the Worlds Greatest Collection sale; (our) Stacks Fixed Price List No. 47, 1950; B.M. Eubanks; Quality Sales auction of September 1973, lot 464; Abner Kreisbergs Collectors Portfolio Public Coin Auction, October 1978, lot 633; our (Bowers and Ruddys) Fixed Price List No. 41, 1981; Steves Ivys Charmont Sale, October 1983, lot 3769; our (Bowers and Merenas) Somerset Collection sale, May 1992, lot 1300; Jeff Isaac; The Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, and displayed as part of the Cardinal Collection of Early Dollars at the 2001, 2002 and 2004 ANA Conventions; our (American Numismatic Rarities) sale of the Cardinal Collection, June 2005, lot 5; private collector; reacquired by the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, 2008, and featured in a complete Mint Set of 1794 coinage; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of Selections from the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, August 2010 Boston Rarities Sale, lot 1005; Heritage Auctions; Bruce Morelan; Legend Numismatics; private collector.
