1801 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. BB-211, B-1. Rarity-3. AU-58 (NGC). CAC. This handsome and fully original Choice AU would be a fine representative of the type, issue or variety in a high grade collection. Nicely centered in strike, both sides are uniformly bold in detail from the borders to the centers. The toning is a blend of warm slate gray and olive-gold shades that further enhances the coins already impressive appearance. A natural flan flaw above Libertys head serves as convenient pedigree marker for tracing this through future cabinets. <p>By 1801, the value of the silver contained in a silver dollar was now $1.03, making the coins targets for speculation and melting, leading to a slowdown in the production of the denomination. While the official Mint records show that 54,545 silver dollars were struck in 1801, these records do not specify the date of the coins. Through die analysis, it is likely that perhaps only 35,000 coins dated 1801 were actually dated 1801. Struck using two obverse and four reverse dies, there are a total of four known die marriages at present, of which only BB-211 appears to have actually been struck in 1801, the rest were likely produced the following year. The BB-211 die pair - often referred to as the Wide Date - is the most available of the four varieties. Because many specimens were either shipped abroad or melted down, this issue is scarcer than some of the earlier dates. Q. David Bowers estimates that between 1,800 and 3,500 1801 dollars survive in all varieties, of which less than one-tenth may be found at the AU level or above. A lovely coin with considerable eye appeal.
