What makes our next entry in our blog series following along with Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest United States Coins series is that despite their date, they were NOT struck at that time. Confusing? Really confusing, according to author Jeff Garrett in this fourth edition, but this fact also makes them extremely rare and in demand.
#80 – 1801, 1802, and 1803 Proof Draped Bust Silver Dollars
Despite their dates of 1801, 1802, and 1803, the Proof Draped Bust Dollars were not issued during those years. Garrett estimates that they were either produced around the same time as the 1804 silver dollar, which was around 1834, or they were struck around 1870. This prediction is based on the weight of the coins, which is closer to a Trade dollar (1873-1885) than it is other silver dollars produced at that time, like the Draped Bust or Liberty Seated.
Their similarity to the 1804 silver dollar (considered the King of Coins) is what gives them any merit at all. This includes a shared reverse die, the beaded edge on both sides which is a design feature credited to William Kneass (1828), and edge lettering that was added post-strike. The one thing these early dollars have on the “King of Coins” is that they are rarer.
In today’s numismatic market, the 1801-1803 Proof silver dollars are rarely seen. A Gem Proof 1802 dollar sold at auction for $920,000 more recently as well as a report of an 1803 in superb condition being sold privately at more than $1 million.
The historic market value for all three Proof silver dollars in Choice Proof condition was estimated at $4,500. By this fourth edition from Whitman, the 1801 rose to $1 million, the 1802 to $750,000, and the 1803 to $700,000.
