A pretty/cool looking Small Eagle Draped Bust Dollar, even if it has been spent...UPDATED 10-22

coinguy1

I happened upon this one recently and thought it was quite nice. For those who like to play "guess the grade", have at it and play nice (and fair).

XpipedreamR

Yes, it is very nice looking. I'd say it's around VF-25-30

jbsteven

au50

zenny

Mark

please, please, please sell me that coin for vf money.

sincerely

z

Wisconsin

It looks to be avery nice XF45 . I love the album toning and the luster. This is about as nice as they come for my taste.

Jay

Draco

I'll take a wild stab and say XF40. Nice Coin

Draco

Baley

Technically EF45 but worth AU money because it is prettier than 90% of "AU" coins.

09sVDB

Xf40?

mgoodm3

I like low AU.

mdwoods

Nice looking coin. I haven't the foggiest idea of the grade. I'll guess XF45.

ccr

I`ll go with VF35/XF40 ( like I`m an expert on the series ). It`s an exceptional piece IMHO considering it`s a 205 year old coin. A lovely coin for the lucky person that buys it! Very nice find and a good eye Mark!

tjkillian

Technically, I'd have to go with VF-35 but worth low AU money because of eye appeal.

Tom

Baley

now that I take another look I could see a TPG going with high VF, say a 30 or 35.
If so, how much does it cost?

cardinal

A very attractive coin!

This is the 1798 Small Eagle 13 stars dollar, variety BB-82, B-1. This is oftentimes referred to as a "transitional" variety, as it bridges the transition between the Draped Bust/Small Eagle dollars coined from 1795 through 1798, to the Draped Bust/Large Eagle dollars coin from 1798 through 1804.

The 1798 BB-82 variety represents the first use of the obverse die, which was later combined with the heraldic ("large") eagle style reverse to create the rare (R-6++) variety BB-91, B-32. The coin also represents the second use of the reverse die, which was first combined with the 1797 Stars 9x7 dollar. The reuse of the reverse die is quite apparent from the extensive die breaks visible on the reverse of the coin -- most noticeable in the photo in the line running from the rim, through the second T in STATES, to the wreath and then to the eagle's wing. Though less noticeable, the cracks generally follow right along the wreath on the left side of the reverse as well.

As a result of the extensive die breaks, coins of this variety generally show weak central strikes. So, a typical specimen will NOT display any breast feathers on the eagle, the eagle's right wing (viewer's left) will be weak at the center, and Liberty's cheek and central hair detail are generally flat. Liberty's shoulder and bustline generally do strike up on this variety, and so that can aid in grading.

For this specimen, the folds of Liberty's drapery are quite clear, and the drapery line appears to be complete over her shoulder. Though showing wear, most of Liberty's hair is detailed, and the feathers on the eagle's left (viewer's right) wing are clear. With "all major details clear but displaying wear," I would grade the coin XF-40, and I think PCGS would too, from a technical standpoint. NGC tends to provide more of a reward for eye-appeal (i.e., market grading), and so I think they would grade this one XF-45 in recognition that the market would definitely give this coin a premium over a "basic" XF-40 coin for its superior appearance.

tsacch

45 to 53 depending on how they grade, technical or market

BigE

XF-45, should bring 8950.00 easy------BigE

michael

au 50

Baley

the grade! for the love of God, man, what is the grade?
I won't be able to sleep unless it's posted tonight.

edit: ok, went and found it on the website. should have gone with my first instinct!

Gemini

A very pleasant appearing coin. I like it alot. I'd easily pay XF money for it.

Spudmasher

Easily a XF45 TO AU50............ Looks as if it still has some of its original luster. Beautiful peripheral toning. Needs to be dipped..........

MacCoin

welcome back. what happen to that quitting the board thing. anyway its good to see you back. thats a nice bust dollar bust are a little pricie for my collection but it still a nice coin. I guess that old girl would be an xf and I bet she was dipped

1jester

My guess is XF-45. I see plenty of mint luster. Perhaps it's been dipped sometime in the past, too. Very appealing coin.

coinguy1

The coin resides in an NGC XF45 holder, has lots of mint luster remaining (way too much to grade VF), nice detail and attractive original toning, that looks to be the result of long term album storage.

Cardinal - as always, thanks for a most excellent and informative post.

For comparison purposes, here are two PCGS XF45's and an AU50 sold in an auction last year:

1jester

Are the first and third coins hairlined?

michael

i think the first and third coins are really strongly cleaned hence the wipe (hairlines) and nothing wrong with that as for large silver coins this age this is how they mostly come!

a somewhat recent cleaning ( within the last 30 or so years) not something that has been cleaned about 100 years ago as many were and then starting to retone

michael

michael

the bottom dollar more recently cleaned

the top dollar an older obverse cleaning and then a botched obverse retoning job

michael

BigE

I like Coinguys at he very top of this post the most, however it looks like the botom three pics of the dollars are very uncomplimentary -----------------------BigE