I bought this 1799 dollar from a veteran collector in the mid 1980s. At the time he sold it to me, he indicated that he had paid $15 for it in the 1940s. Consulting my Red Books from the 1940s, I found that the retail price for this variety (7 obverse stars left, 6 right) of 1799 dollar was consistently $17.50 in VF until 1950 (4th edition of the Red Book) when it went up to $40. In those days, this coin would have graded EF, so it appears that he got quite a bargain. This leads to another observation about how grading has changed over the decades. In the 1980s, I graded this piece EF-45. Not surprisingly the collector graded it AU. We decided to let ANACS decide. This was before PCGS existed. ANACS sent it back in one of their "old time, bar soap" holders as an EF-45. In the early 2000s I saw that the grading standards had changed. I cracked it out of the ANACS holder and sent it to NGC. They gave it an AU-55. So, what do you think?
Yes, it has better overall eye appeal than an 1802 dollar I have in PCGS AU-58. In person, this coin has multiple coins, which includes blue and gold. It's hard to capture with a photograph. Here is another look at the obverse.
Beautiful coin. Pretty much out of my league so don't spend much time looking at these, but if this was a GTG, I might have been in the AU50-53 range based on what I can make out in remaining luster quality.
I’m waiting for that to be true for me… I’m aging like milk… lol that’s a pretty amazing coin and I love that it’s changed hands so infrequently. Coins like that one deserve a home.
Here is more fact about the coin. This collector sold it to me to help finance a trip he and his wife were taking to Bermuda.
I don't know if it's as nice as the one I picked up for $776 not too long ago, but I might consider a trade Maybe someday I'll have one as nice, I'm just very happy to have one at all, to be honest, even if a bear swiped at it while it was being nailed to the bar (that's the imaginary history I've made up). Your collection is a constant source of inspiration, interesting history and beautiful pictures, thank you for posting!
This is an experience I made buying a Bust dollar a long time go. In the early 80s my company sent me to visit our parent company in the US, in Michigan. While I was there I visited a local coin show held in a shopping mall. There were not many coins that interested me, but there was one dealer who had some of the older coins that I was looking for. I noticed he had this early dollar which I ended up buying it. Too eager, too young, bit naive maybe. I paid $275, a large amount for me at the time. I still have it and look at it every now and then as an example of what NOT to do in Numismatics.
