1799 $1 Draped Bust Silver Dollar BB-165 B-8 R-2.
40mm, 26.3g. Purchased long ago from well-known Santa Rosa, CA dealer Jack H. Beymer.
According to Q. David Bowers in “Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia” (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., 1993), updated in the 2013 edition of “The Encyclopedia of United States Silver Dollars 1794-1804.”
Bolender 8, Haseltine 8
OBVERSE 8: Liberty with open mouth. First star is slightly farther from curl than last star is from bust, or about 2 mm. from curl. The 7th star is slightly closer to L than 8th star is to Y. There is a die chip between star 9 and the border. Star 10 is slightly repunched on its innermost ray. On the left, the stars are fairly evenly spaced. On the right, stars 10 and 11 are significantly closer than any of the others. Highest curl on top of head is centered more under right half of E in LIBERTY. The 1 in date is much farther from the curl, slightly over 1 mm. The letters in LIBERTY are usually seen with varying degrees of bifurcation, sometimes extensive, suggesting to Bolender that the letters were “fancy.” This obverse closely resembles BB-160, to which compare. Obverse die used to strike 1799 BB-165 only.
REVERSE M: Die flaws inside and to right top of final S in STATES. Far right edge of A is over junction of clouds 3 and 4. Point of star touches point of lower part of eagle’s beak; ray points to left of left upright of U in PLURIBUS. Leaf points slightly right of center of I in AMERICA. AME join at lowest part. The N in UNITED was initially cut upside down and later corrected; an extraneous serif from the error can be seen to the lower right of the N, and appears as a line between the bottoms of N and I. Reverse die used to strike 1799 BB-165 only.
DIE STATES:
Die State I: Obverse die without crack. Reverse with die flaws at second S of STATES, but no line cracks. About 20% or so of BB-165 dollars are of this die state.
Die State II: Bolender-8a. Obverse with die crack from border through two points of seventh star and LIB. Reverse with these cracks: Wing up through ST to above A. Crack from cloud 3 up through TES to OF. Crack from border down to second S joins other crack. Crack from CA, to stem, through tail feathers, through arrow feathers, to U. Reverse stars are weak in this and later state. (Intermediate states of these cracks occur.) Plentiful die state.
Die State III: Bolender-8b. Obverse as II, but now with crack heavier through LIBE and extending farther. With additional crack from border above T down through TY. Reverse with additional cracks: From F through wing tip to ribbon end. From bottom of M to branch. Scarcer die state.
