1798 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. Heraldic Eagle. BB-115, B-31a. Rarity-5. Pointed 9, Close Date. EF-45 (PCGS). Warmly patinated in blended pewter and olive-grade, the obverse contrasts somewhat with a reverse on which glints of antique silver shine forth from the protected areas around the peripheral letters. Softness of strike to the end of Libertys bust and the opposing area on the reverse is typical of the variety (see, among others, the 2013 Bowers plate coin), most other areas retaining considerable sharpness to the design elements. Bowers-Borckardt 115 is one of the scarcer die marriages of the 1798 Heraldic Eagle silver dollar. It features a workhorse obverse that was also used to strike examples of the BB-113, BB-114, BB-116, BB-117, BB-118 and BB-119 varieties. On this obverse, the digit 8 is much too high, out of position, and leaning to the right. The reverse of BB-115 is in its only use. It was first described by M.H. Bolender in 1950, having been unknown to John W. Haseltine when he wrote his <em>Type-Table</em> in 1881. Q. David Bowers estimates that only 175 to 300 examples are known in all grades, his list of Notable Specimens comprised solely of EF and AU coins. This Choice Extremely Fine survivor is clearly among the finer known, and it is a coin that deserves serious consideration from advanced early dollar variety collectors. BB Die State IV.
