Description

Welcome to the 1801 drape bust dollar with residual mint luster peeking out from the devices and the fields. This coin was reported as being rare (infrequently seen) by PCGS.

The following is courtesy of PCGS:

The run of Draped Bust Dollars with the Type 2 Heraldic Eagle reverse from 1798 through 1804 pertains to a relatively short span of coins. However, it is arguably the busiest bunch of so-called Early Dollars, which trace further back to 1794 and include the first United States silver dollars ever made. The rarest of them all is the famous 1804 Dollar, the so-called “King of American Coins,” which serves as the iconic posterchild for the series. Only 15 of those 1804-dated dollars were made, and all were produced at least three decades after their date otherwise suggests.

And while the 1804 dollar is certainly the rarest of these large silver coins bearing the Draped Bust design by Robert Scot, there are other dates in the series deserving of one’s attention. To be sure, all Draped Bust Dollars are scarce coins, even in the lowest of circulated grades, and they’re decidedly rare in Mint State condition.

Of the Draped Bust Dollars paired with the Heraldic Eagle design, the most common dates as determined by mintage figures include the 1798, 1799, and 1800 issues, with production totals of 327,536, 423,515, and 220,920, respectively. The latter three circulating issues – 1801, 1802, and 1803 (dollars dated 1804 were not made for use in commerce) – each come in significantly under 100,000 apiece.

The 1801 Draped Bust Dollar saw 54,454 examples struck, 1802 yielded 41,650, and 1803 delivered 85,634 specimens. It really doesn’t take a mathematician to understand that the 1802 Dollar has the lowest mintage, but it may require some deeper numismatic insight to know that it’s the 1801 Dollar that is overall the rarest of that group today. Why?

PCGS estimates there are just 2,000 examples of the 1801 Draped Bust Dollar around today in all grades, with only 15 in MS60 or better and just 2 grading MS65 or higher. It should be noted that these figures are far lower than they are for the 1802 Dollar, which – as highlighted above – brags the lower mintage. PCGS reflects a surviving total of 3,500 for the 1802 date (including all varieties, such as the 1802/1 Overdate); in uncirculated grades the 1802 Dollar is estimated to offer 80 specimens. Again, these figures far exceed the survival estimates for the 1801 Dollar, and such stats for the other Draped Bust Dollars dated 1798 through 1803 only point upward from there.

Low survival numbers for the 1801 Dollar certainly bear out in the marketplace today. For example, should one check out Collectors Corner at any given time for listings of Draped Bust Dollars, they’re bound to locate a bevy of issues dated 1798 through 1800, smaller bounties of 1802 and 1803 Dollars, and perhaps only a couple – with a dose of luck, maybe a few – 1801 Dollars. Similar results usually bear out on the bourse floor of any major coin show, where one will surely be hard pressed to find an 1801 Dollar – especially one with nice, original surfaces and encapsulated, to boot.