1798 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. Heraldic Eagle. BB-110, B-16. Rarity-6. Pointed 9, Wide Date. EF Details--Cleaned (PCGS).A rather pleasing example of this important rarity among Draped Bust dollar varieties. The detail is bold to sharp in most areas, but it does wane considerably at Libertys bust, along the right obverse border, and over the upper right reverse -- an attribute shared by the other examples of this die state of which we are aware. Both sides are overall smooth in hand and, while the surfaces are somewhat glossy in texture to explain the stated qualifier, they have been retoned rather nicely in deep, rich, mostly antique-copper patina. BB Die State I, and one of just three examples known to us.This is certainly one of the rarest of the numerous early dollars that we are offering in this sale. In fact, BB-110 is a leading rarity among die marriages of the 1798 issue. According to M.H. Bolender (as quoted in Bowers, 2013): "The [obverse] die broke early and so badly that very few pieces were struck, possibly not over two, as no others are known to the author." Additional examples of the 1798 BB-110 dollar have surfaced since Bolenders writing in 1950, and Bowers states that perhaps as many as 30 to 50 pieces are extant. The author also notes, however, that some estimates for the number of survivors are as low as six to 12 pieces.Most examples of this die variety known to numismatists are late die states with a sizeable obverse break from the rim before star 1 to the top of the digits in the date. The present example, however, is an early state (BB Die State I, as above) with no evidence of this crack. This is only the third example of this die state that has come to our attention. The other two examples are the Superior 1975 ANA:874 coin and the PCGS EF-45 that appeared as lot 2276 in our (Bowers and Merenas) December 2004 Baltimore Auction. A definite find for the specialist.
