The dollars brought by the Americans are a national coin agreeing precisely in weight with the Spanish Dollar, but on assay have a few cash more of alloy; they are stamped with the head of General Washington with fifteen stars and the motto of ‘Liberty’ dated 1795 and have on the reverse an eagle surrounded with laurels and the motto ‘United States of America.’” — The Committee of the British East India Company at Canton, December 1796</em>Full cartwheel luster persists on both sides, highlighting golden toning and pastel blue behind the crown of Liberty’s head. The somewhat reflective reverse shows particularly strong luster and bolder peripheral amber and gold toning. The strike shows the always-present soft detail near center, affecting some curls near Liberty’s ear on the obverse and the breast and outstretched leg of the eagle on the reverse. Other details are well defined, including frames of broad denticles encircling both sides. Light hairlines are visible in the fields, more significant on the obverse than reverse. Some light marks are seen, including a short scratch under Liberty’s ear and a similar mark under the second S of STATES, but no heavy digs or bruises are present on either side. No adjustment marks are seen on devices or fields. A streak of toning above Liberty’s hair bow and another between IB of LIBERTY blend in unless scrutinized. The visual appeal for the grade is very good, offering authentic luster and unworn surfaces, characteristics that are rarely seen on this variety.The die state is early, before the hair atop Liberty’s head was lapped away, preserving the high wave of hair below ER of LIBERTY and the curl above her forehead. The leaves below D of UNITED and the first S of STATES are hollow from lapping. A small spalling chip is seen high above the 1 of the date. Though perhaps a quarter million Draped Bust, Small Eagle dollars were coined between 1795 and 1798, only a small fraction of those survived in American circulation until even the end of the 18th century. Most were exported, as large merchant concerns exploited the fact that American dollars were pegged in value to Spanish colonial 8 reales despite the American coin’s greater fineness. The higher silver content of American dollars allowed arbitrageurs to make a few percentage points, exchanging dollars for 8 reales at an equal rate in the American market, then selling those dollars for a larger number of 8 reales in China on the basis of their bullion content. This business cycled early dollars from the Mint to the export market, increasing the Mint’s workload and expenditures without ever increasing the domestic money supply. The Augean labor finally ended in 1804, when dollar production was put on a lengthy hiatus. Three years later, President Thomas Jefferson was still encouraging production of smaller denominations, complaining to Mint Director Robert Patterson “dollars and eagles ... leave us immediately.”Though the committee of the British East India Company at Canton misconstrued the head of Liberty as that of George Washington, probably after seeing a Flowing Hair dollar rather than the more feminine bust on the Draped Bust type, the description of the American dollar they penned in a report back to London is perhaps the earliest reference to American silver dollars appearing overseas. Illustrations of American dollars of both the Flowing Hair and Draped Bust types later appeared in cambists, books produced to assist merchants involved in foreign exchange. Some were fanciful, including the 1793 Draped Bust dollar shown in James Ede’s 1808 <em>A View of the Gold & Silver Coins of all Nations Exhibited</em>, but others like the 1806 <em>Traite des Monnaies d’Or et d’Argent</em> by Pierre-Frederic Bonneville included detailed drawings of this type, accurately depicting even the lettered edge.Only three Mint State examples of the Small Date, Large Letters variety have been certified by PCGS. All represent the BB-61 die marriage. The other Small Date, Large Letters die combination is BB-64, an extreme rarity that is unknown above Very Fine. Surpassing both the Reiver specimen and an example recently discovered in Europe that was offered in our August 2013 auction, this is the finest example graded by PCGS.PCGS# 40000. NGC ID: 24X3.
