DRAPED BUST / PLAIN EAGLE SILVER DOLLARS (1795-1798)

THE SCOT-ECKSTEIN DRAPED BUST/SMALL EAGLE (1795-98)

This new design represented the fulfillment of a dream for the new Mint Director, Henry William DeSaussure. On his accession, he had named his two ambitions: to place gold coinage into circulation; and to improve the design of all denominations, particularly of silver coins. To this purpose, he engaged the illustrious portraitist Gilbert Stuart, who submitted a (now lost) drawing of Mrs. William Bingham (nee Ann Willing) as Ms. Liberty. John Eckstein (local artistic hack) translated this into "models" (some kind of prototypes for device punches?) for Robert Scot, losing whatever subtleties the Stuart drawing may have possessed explaining why Stuart's family kept his role secret for decades; Snowden {1861}, p. 177; AJN April 1887, p. 95. Eckstein received $30 on Sept. 9, 1795, for his two "models." The second of these is likely to have been the small eagle on clouds. Use of olive and palm branches in the wreath probably represents a bow to DeSaussure's Southern origins, immediately becoming an anachronism on his resignation.

Two pairs of working dies were hastily completed, one with the obv. device punch too far to 1. (crowded against stars), the other with head normally centered but with slivers from central areas (in Ms. Liberty's hair), that had probably fallen out of the die during initial hardening. Some 42,738 coins were struck from these two pairs of dies during the last two weeks of Oct. 1795. One of the two eagle dies (5366) cracked and was discarded; the other (5367) was occasionally briefly reused until it wore out with a 1798 obv. Several prooflike "specimen sinkings" of 1795 survive, with many more mint-state business strikes, mostly dated 1795; these have lately become the object of intense competition among type collectors.

Hilt argues that the 23,368 of Oct. 17, 1795 (Warrant 46), were from the dies here called 5366, the 19,370 of Oct. 24 (Warrant 49) and the 4,550 of Jan. 30, 1796, were from the dies here called 5367, making 47,288 in all. He assumes that Scot failed to add the final 6 to the first three 1796 obvs. until later; this is fairly likely but cannot be proved. Dates on working dies normally got final digits just before hardening. Thomas Bingham was paid $48 for 96 letter punches, Oct. 19, 1795: presumably letters ABCDEFILMNORSTUY, digits 1 7 8 9, in four sizes, plus replacements. In all denominations, 9 was inverted to make final 6.

The disheartened, disillusioned, and sick DeSaussure resigned his directorship in the face of a hostile Congress; many of whose members wanted to abolish the costly Mint in favor of the former practices: profitably passing copper coins ordered from British token factories; continuing use of foreign silver and gold coins, which were after all legal tender. Ellas Boudinot succeeded him before the end of 1795.

Coinage during 1796 was larger in total amount, but was executed under increasing difficulties: die breakage; continuing anxiety over possible abolition of the Mint; and one of what proved to be a series of annual epidemics of yellow fever, forcing closure of the Mint each fall for a couple of months, and killing valuable personnel.

Previous coins showed 15 obv. stars; but on June 1, 1796, Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the sixteenth state, and subsequent dies bore 16 stars on other denominations. This change reached the silver dollars only in 1797, suggesting thai the 1796-dated dies were all completed before Tennessee's admission.

Mintage in 1797 was very limited, for reasons similar to 1796. On Feb. 28, some 342 were struck, which have been tentatively identified as the Small Letters coins. These are from the worn rev. of 1795 (5367), always weak so that survivors look about a full grade lower on rev. than on obv. No mint-state specimen is even rumored. Hilt's interpretation of this and later delivery figures differs.

The Large Letters coins {obv. stars 9 1., 7 r.) are conjectured to comprise the 4,941 struck in the two deliveries of May 26 and June 30, 1797. Both dies cracked, the obv. severely; the marginally usable rev. was resurrected for use with one of the 1798 obvs.
Those with stars 10 I., 6 r. are identified with the 2,493 delivered Aug. 12-28, just before the annual yellow fever epidemic. This variety's rev. rusted but failed to be cleaned up for reuse. Possibly there was too little time during preparations for clo¬sure of the Mint to regrind this die and dip it into the tub of hot grease kept for the purpose; possibly Scot or Eckfeldt thought it was too far gone.
Little is known about the two Small Eagle vars. dated 1798. It is uncertain if they represent the initial deliveries of this year or an emergency issue of winter 1798/99 following hasty re¬opening of the Mint after the cold weather had killed off the mosquitoes and stopped the epidemic. That with 13 stars has the cracked Large Letter rev. left over from 1797; the rarer one with 15 stars (evidently an incomplete 1796-97 die with final digit omitted) has the worn-out rev. of 1795. There is no way to know if both vars. were struck in the same month, or which came first. Evidence from the condition of rev. dies indicates only that both followed their 1796-97 usages.
This entire group of 13 vars. has probably the lowest average grade level of survivors. Some vars. are unobtainable even in EF.

THE SCOT-ECKSTEIN DRAPED BUST / SMALL EAGLE DESIGN

Designers, Engravers, Robert Scot and John Eckstein, after Gilbert Stuart (obv.). Letters by Thomas Bingham. Mint, Philadelphia. Physical Specifications, Authorizing Act, as before.
Grade range, POOR to UNC. GOOD: Date and all letters legible, devices complete in outline. VERY GOOD; Traces of internal details of hair, drapery, and feathers; eye and ear at least partly visible. FINE: Partial hair details including curls and strands 1. of ear; eye and ear completely clear; few major drapery lines clear; half wing-feather details. VERY FINE: Over half hair details; -V4 of wing-feather details. EXTREMELY FINE: Isolated tiny rubbed spots only; inner lines in feathers and leaves clear, partial mint luster. EXCEPTIONS: Small Letters vars. dated 1797-98 all have rev. much weaker than obv.