Owner Comments:
1798 Draped Bust Dollar: PCGS Fine 15 Variety BB-115
This 1798 F15 has pleasant eye appeal with a nice light metal gray patina along with a reasonable strike for its grade. Although not the highest of grades it is an excellent upgrade of my “Detailed Fine’ specimen. Based on the market value of other straight grade coins, this affordable specimen fits well with my Early Dollar collection approach.
This 1798 specimen is the BB-115 variety based on Q. David Bowers’ reference book “The Encyclopedia of UNITED STATES SILVER DOLLARS 1794 to 1804”.
David Bowers’ estimates that the mintage of the 1798 is approximately ~200,000 with a survival rate of roughly 7,000 to 14,000 coins for all varieties. The BB-115 has an estimated survival rate of roughly 175 to 300 coins. When analyzing NGC and PCGS census reports each firm combined has graded about ~5,600 total coins, which supports Bowers low end estimate for total population.
*Sources for commentary: NGC and PCGS census reports and Q. David Bowers’ reference book “The Encyclopedia of UNITED STATES SILVER DOLLARS 1794 to 1804”.