Early Dollars Research ~ 1794-1804 ~ Website Question ~
asheland
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A friend of mine just texted me, asking if I would post it on the boards for him…
He’s big into Bust dollars and Seated dollars heck, I think he does everything from 1794 to 1935, the end of the Peace dollars… He’s an advanced collector... I’m trying to get him to join here! 
Anyway, he asked if I would post this question on the forums… I will just quote it here in italics, he will be lurking… 
Hey Terry , Have a question for you to post on the PCGS boards. There used to be an online variety attribution tool posted at earlydollars.org. Was very quick and helpful. The site is gone and the research Ive done says the site was infected with malware and taken down. It was originally put up by the Cardinal foundation. Trying to see if anyone has access to something similar. Have heard there is a link to earlier versions prior to infection. Just trying to to get info. Thanks This is specifically for bust dollars.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Comments
May I respectfully suggest that a fine old series like The Bust Dollars deserves a fine old hard copy book like Dave Bowers Encyclopedia, Vol. 1; a fine old libation of choice, and, for some reason, a smoking jacket. Just don’t smoke over the coins.
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As far as the previous thread and the archived version -
This is the link to yosclimber comment (on 2nd page) on the archive version and the 'old'' thread brought up to ask about the recent demise of the website.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/13878775/#Comment_13878775
If you want to check for other archived versions to see if any might have more information and/or pictures then go to this link and select the year and then the individual archived versions. I will include the last one on Sept 2024 but my quick check indicates it is similar to the one yoscliimber gave.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240515000000*/http://earlydollars.org/
Sept 2024
https://web.archive.org/web/20240914134036/http://earlydollars.org/
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If he's lurking, perhaps he might see this post and consider trade dollars as a fine complement to a SLD set.
There is little solid information online as of yet but an excellent reference book is in its final stages now and should be published and available around summer time.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
@asheland I’ll be sure to twist his arm to get him to join.
The best reference on Bust Dollars is the book "The Early United States Silver Dollars 1794 - 1803" by Jules Reiver. It is available on eBay.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
"The Encyclopedia of United States Silver Dollars "1794-1804" written by Q. David Bowers and published by Stack's Bowers Galleries in 2013 is also a very good reference book for early dollars. David Perkins has been studying bust dollars for decades and is very knowledgeable on the series.
One can also enjoy the online version of that book which PCGS has on here while sipping your celery-algae-moss gut cleanser of choice while wearing underwear and/or flip flops.
Though the first suggestion may be the better option.
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Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia - Q. David Bowers
Table of Contents
Volume I
https://pcgs.com/books/silver-dollars
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"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
Perhaps I am a bit partial to the Bowers Encyclopedia as I read it in galley form, as I did for several of his books, making suggestions and additions along the way. I was quite surprised that nobody else had ever noticed the five line shields used on the Large Letter reverses used for BB-91, 92, 96 and 101, or the N punched over an I in UNITED on the BB-118.
And I find it easier to lay a (preferably raw) coin next to the picture on a page, rather than trying to compare it to a picture on a monitor. My arms aren't long enough.........
Nicky Kneecaps? 😳
I second both of your points! Mr Perkins have done extensive research on early dollar die varieties. He was kind enough to show the "missing leaf" BB-25 Flowing hair dollar.
I assembled a nearly complete set of Flowing Hair and Bust dollars by die pair and all die states of each of them. It was insane. (I think I ended up with around 400 different ones.) Started selling them off at FUN this year. But I am working on a book outlining them, as Bowers (et al) was not entirely certain of all of the extant die states and many were found beyond those catalogued previously. I should have that done sometime this year. The general information should be available on the public side of the SSDC Registry site, but I am not sure to what extent right now. Anyone who is interested and is attending the shows I set up at, I am always happy to share as much as I know. The census for each die state should be the most valuable part of the study.
I sampled several of the "Die Variety Attribution Wizard" stored on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine over various years and could not find any version of them which came close to fully working. Though, I only checked a portion so their might be a chance a working one is still burried in the various captures. Not aware of any other site that might have it stored and functioning.
It may be gone forever.
The Bowers Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 on PCGS (I thought it had photos but not seeing them now) and in print may have some use, though I think there are a number of new varieties found since its 1990's issue.
Not familiar with ""The Encyclopedia of United States Silver Dollars "1794-1804" written by Q. David Bowers and published by Stack's Bowers Galleries in 2013 mentioned by @Coinbert and whether that is as good or better for attribution.
Sounds like the information @alefzero is working on information may soon become the best updated source.
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The catalog for the Goldberg sale of the Hesselgesser collection of early silver dollars from September 5, 2011 is also interesting. It does have some info for attribution and mentions some die states. It might be helpful in attributing when combined with the Bowers Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 on PCGS for those that don't own physical copies.
This Part II catalog also has reprinted in the back the 37 lots from Part I. So there are 113 of the then known 123 die varieties. Not sure if there have been any better auctions covering the varieties since then.
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=7&AuctionId=414
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It will be interesting to see how updated information compares to the overview chart below by Hesselgesser included in that 2011 catalog.
https://archive.org/details/drhesselgesserco0002iral/page/n13/mode/1up
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"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
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Thanks everybody for your help on this!
I genuinely appreciate it!
Tim we need you to join! I’m sure many of the members would appreciate your contributions in here!
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