1795年自由女神像1美元 PCGS SP 66。1795 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. Bowers Borckardt-51, Bolender-14. Rarity-8 PCGS SP 66.This beautiful dollar, so far as condition is concerned, Mr. Randall declares is unique. I certainly have never seen one approaching it in perfection and beauty.” — W. Elliot Woodward, 1885</em>There is no Draped Bust dollar struck before 1834 that approaches this coin in desirability. This coin is as legendary as it is distinctive, exhibiting completely reflective fields on both sides. While other high grade dollars from these dies appear somewhat prooflike, this is the sole coin of this entire design type to have been recognized as a Specimen by PCGS.The devices are exactingly struck. Despite the fact that not every aspect is fully detailed, it is fair to assume this coin was struck with as much care and force as could have been applied with the technology then available to the nascent United States Mint. The portrait is nearly all fully raised from the die. Liberty’s profile is elegantly delineated, with her mouth slightly open and her eyes looking straight ahead. The wispy curl right of her ear is a bit soft, but all other aspects are sharp, even the often-flat highest wave of hair and the drapery near the tip of her bust. Some softness progresses through the centers of stars 6 through 12, with those atop each side showing the least central detail while those at the base of each arc of stars are fully realized. The date and legends of LIBERTY show relief that could be described as sculptural. The peripheries are framed with a full circle of denticles of matched, even length, indicating precise centering. The rims are perfectly preserved, well struck and square. This issue, and perhaps this very coin, represents the very first appearance of the Draped Bust portrait of Liberty.
The Small Eagle reverse design also made its debut here, and no dollar anywhere presents it with more detail or better aesthetics than this coin. The eagle stands, exultant, atop a cloud and enclosed in a leafy wreath of olive and palm, surrounded by the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Like the obverse, this side is ideally centered within a perfect circle of discrete and individual denticles. The eagle’s head, so often weak on other specimens of this design type, is complete and perfectly struck, showing the eye, nare, and tongue in perfect order. Each feather on the breast of the eagle is well defined, though an oval-shaped area at the center of the breast shows slightly less definition than others. The eagle’s outstretched leg, not immune to issues of strike even on a coin this special, shows soe localized bluntness, and the bow at the base of the wreath likewise lacks some of its intended finer details. The leaves on the right side of the wreath are perfectly formed with three-dimensional concavity, while the leaves on the left each show strong veins, punctuated by well rounded berries.Lintmarks, left by the cloth used to wipe the dies clean, are plentiful and prominent, scattered over both sides, evidence in their preponderance of the special consideration this coin received preparatory to striking. A long, curved lintmark is seen beneath 5 in the date, and others gather individually and in batches: above Liberty’s hair bow, above E and beneath T of LIBERTY, beneath Liberty’s chin and across her chest, and throughout the reverse periphery. A careful examination will find a lintmark within the view of a magnifier no matter what area of the coin is chosen for careful study. Vertical polish lines are subtly evident between the top of Liberty’s head and LIBERTY above, particularly under RT. The reverse shows some faint striations, the byproduct of microscopic impurities in the silver ingot being rolled out to planchet thickness, mostly visible in the gap between UNITED and STATES, below ES of STATES and OF, and left of the wing at left. A similar but less visible characteristic is noted inside of stars 13 and 14 on the obverseThe reflectivity and luster is bright enough to give the modern viewer a good impression of what this coin looked like when it retained its just-minted brilliance, but light attractive golden toning has gathered on its surfaces in the intervening two and a quarter centuries. Deep violet and amber, with traces of bright blue, are seen around the obverse peripheries, boldest near the date. The reverse toning is well-matched, golden overall but a bit deeper at the peripheries.
The surface quality is superb, free of significant marks and showing only the most inconsequential of light, scattered hairlines. The few vertical lines on Liberty’s neck likely remain from before striking. A single hairline from below the eagle’s beak to the uppermost leaf at right is perhaps the only post-striking mark a careful examination can reveal, as no nicks or abrasions of any significance are visible. The technical grade and aesthetic appeal are incomparable. The care with which this coin was struck was, quite literally, unique.This die combination marked the introduction of the Draped Bust design, one that was first used on cents, half dimes, dimes, quarters, and half dollars in 1796 and finally appeared on half cents in 1800. In 1795, it appeared exclusively on dollars. In 1861, Mint Director James Ross Snowden introduced the creation story of the design in the pages of his <em>A Description of the Medals of Washington</em>:The head of Liberty on the dollar of 1795 was designed by Stuart, the celebrated portrait painter, at the request of the Director [DeSaussure], as we learn from a relation of the family; Stuart facetiously remarking that Liberty on the other coins had run mad – referring to the disheveled hair on the head of Liberty on the previous coins – we will bind it up, and thus render her a steady matron.All modern sources attributing the design to Gilbert Stuart come from this one, but Snowden’s source for this comment is obscure. Gilbert Stuart had plenty of family members in Philadelphia that Snowden could have known. Stuart’s first cousin was Joseph Anthony, Jr., a well known Philadelphia merchant and silversmith. When Snowden wrote his book, the Anthonys were still numerous in Philadelphia, intermarried with the Hillegas family and other elites of the city. There was plenty of opportunity for Snowden to hear a bit of Gilbert Stuart’s family lore, passed down from generation to generation.After a stay of just two years in New York, Gilbert Stuart moved to Philadelphia in late November 1794. He was already internationally renowned, having achieved fame while working in London in the 1780s. Within a few months of his arrival in Philadelphia, he had gathered more than 30 subscriptions to paint a portrait of President Washington.
The list he tallied on April 20, 1795, includes some of the most legendary names of the late 18th century: Aaron Burr, John Jay, General Henry Lee, and others. According to Rembrandt Peale, Stuart began painting Washington in his Germantown, Pennsylvania studio in September 1795, just a few miles from the center of what was then the national capital. In the meantime, Stuart had become well acquainted with many of the leading citizens of the country, including many in positions of prominence in the government, but history records no connection between Stuart and Mint Director Henry William DeSaussure.Had Stuart designed this bust, it would have been necessary to hire other artisans to convert his two-dimensional depiction into three dimensions. Stuart worked with paint to the near exclusion of all other media; some writers have stated that he never even sketched in pencil. Stuart certainly lacked the skills to create models or dies. The Mint’s account books reveal that on September 9, 1795, artist John Eckstein was paid $30 for “two models for dollars.” Eckstein was best known at this time as a wax and terracotta portraitist, though he also gained some notoriety early in his career as a painter. In later years, he also accomplished works in marble and learned how to engrave in intaglio to produce copper printing plates. Eckstein likely produced models for the Mint in either wax or terracotta. Whatever the medium, for $30, his works were small and simple. Just a few months later, Alexander Hamilton paid Eckstein’s contemporary Giuseppe Ceracchi $620 for his marble portrait bust. Though the documentation has more gaps than words, it is within the realm of the possible that Eckstein could have produced his wax or terracotta renderings from a painted sketch by Gilbert Stuart.Eckstein is not known to have worked in steel at any point in his career. Given his other sculptural specialties, it is doubtful he engraved these dies; Robert Scot is a far more likely candidate. Scot reported to Congress earlier in 1795 that “the actual duties of my office are. viz. engraving and sinking all original dies, raising and finishing all hubbs that are struck out of them, and raising and finishing all punches that may be requisite to the completion of dies or hubbs; letter punches excepted.” Scot estimated “the dollar original die for the head, will take six or eight days. The same die for its reverse, nearly the same time; and after their hubbs are completed, a head die for striking money may be finished in two days, and the same die of the reverse in the same time nearly.” In less than three weeks’ time, Scot could have produced a set of working dollar dies, from the completion of the design stage until they were ready to produce coins. Assuming Eckstein’s payment was tendered upon DeSaussure receiving his models, Scot could have had dies ready by the beginning of October. On October 3, 1795, the Mint’s treasurer received a delivery of exactly 15,000 dollars, the second largest dollar delivery yet received since the Mint’s founding (surpassed by a delivery of 15,268 the previous June 5).
Between that delivery and the end of 1795, a total of 78,238 dollars were coined; this potential mintage figure for 1795 Draped Bust dollars, posited by R.W. Julian, is both sensible and speculative.Judging from the population of surviving specimens, the attractive and distinctive 1795 Draped Bust dollars were popular souvenirs. More choice Mint State 1795 Draped Bust dollars have survived than those of any other date. This ratio does not make them common, however, and gems remain extremely rare. Among the population of high grade 1795 Draped Bust dollars, this one stands apart, just as it has for over a century.J. Colvin Randall’s eye for quality was renowned during his long association with numismatics. He flourished from the 1860s until the 1890s, but the June 1885 sale of his collection is the event for which he is most remembered today. Randall’s name had been on many catalog covers before, but the W. Elliot Woodward sale of his cabinet contained his choicest pieces. The sale is given John W. Adams’ highest rating, A+; he comments that Randall’s “complete regular mint series” was the “best ever for condition,” including a “Proof 1795 $1.” This coin was one of three early dollars in a row across the top of the photographic plate that opposed the catalog’s title page. Woodward’s preface made clear that while Randall had been a dealer for years, he had also been a collector who “made it a constant practice to reserve the finest and rarest pieces which have fallen into his hands during all this period, until his collection is now unrivaled in those specialties to which he has given particular attention, notably the gold coins and the larger coinage of silver.” Describing his quality connoisseurship, Woodward wrote “Mr. Randall, however good a specimen he might possess, was never content if a better one existed until he became its possessor, and as a whole, the collection cannot be surpassed for fineness of quality.
Collectors will not fail to notice such examples as the brilliant proof 1795 fillet head dollar.” The sale led off with his famous collection of silver dollars. This coin, selling as lot 12, brought $113, exactly $100 more than the Uncirculated 1795 Flowing Hair dollar in lot 11 and almost exactly double the $67 achieved by lot 1, a 1794 dollar described as “uncommonly fine.”Randall’s greatest prize was acquired by T. Harrison Garrett, who was represented at the Randall sale by Harold P. Newlin. A week before the sale, on June 23, 1885, Newlin suggested a $200 bid on the 1795 dollar to Garrett. A few days after the sale, reporting on his successes, Newlin’s estimate increased: “The fillet head 1795 is worth $300.” The question was academic, as it wasn’t for sale. It would remain in the Garrett Collection for 95 years, until 1980. Over the course of that century, interest in die varieties of early dollars and other denominations would blossom, building upon the foundation constructed by Randall, whose research was published in 1881 as the <em>Haseltine Type-Table</em>.“Garrett Prices Reach Stratosphere” cried the headline of the April 9, 1980, issue of <em>Coin World.</em> Midway through the sale, Q. David Bowers “announced the cumulative total had already made [the Garrett sales] the largest auction sale of any collectible property, including art, stamps, antiques, or other collectibles, ever held in America.” This coin was depicted on page 3 of that issue of<em> Coin World</em>, under a headline reading “Garrett sale continues to rewrite history.” “A breathtaking brilliant Proof of the 1795 Draped Bust type dollar commanded $170,000,” the story read.While thousands of extraordinary coins have come to the market since 1980, including plenty of headline-worthy new discoveries that were sold for the very first time, this coin remains unparalleled. It has not been offered since the 1985 sale of Representative Jimmy Hayes’ silver type coins, an interval that has produced an entirely new generation of collectors. No other 1795 dollar has ever produced such a visceral, emotional reaction from numismatists who have had the opportunity to study it in person, nor has any other early dollar of the entire Draped Bust type ever been given Specimen status by PCGS.PCGS# 96859.