Early Dollars — OunceDesk Numismatics

REFERENCEevery number opens its own provenance

At a glance

ISSUES IN THE SET

15

DOLLARS DELIVERED, 1794–1805

1,439,517

SOURCES HELD

37

KEY DATES & CROWNS

6

IDENTIFIED SPECIMENS

34

The series, in parts

IssuesAll 15 dates, with delivery, attribution and class
Varieties & AttributionFour catalogue systems, and how to read a die
Key Dates & RaritiesWhat gates a set, and what merely costs
Grading & AuthenticationIncluding the 1795-altered-to-1794 field test
CollectingThree honest paths through a series with museum coins in it
HistoryThe carousel: why 97% of them left the country
ChecklistOwn it, want it, and what the set is missing
Primary record43 sources, 37 held in the Archive
Open questions6 registered contradictions, unreconciled
The book10 chapters, free to read

REFERENCE15 in the set

Issues

Two columns, because they are two different facts. Delivered is what the Mint's registry records being handed to the Treasurer in a calendar year. Dated attribution is what the trade assigns to coins bearing that date. Where the record does not attribute a delivery to a single issue, this table shows no figure rather than a split someone invented.

ISSUES · DELIVERY, ATTRIBUTION, SURVIVALEARLY DOLLARS · 1794–1804

Issue	Type	Delivered	Dated attribution	Class	Survivors	Marriages
1794	Flowing Hair	1,758	1,758	KEY	~150	1
Type Flowing Hair Dated attribution 1,758 Survivors ~150 Marriages 1
1795 Flowing Hair	Flowing Hair	no attribution	160,295	OBTAINABLE	—	Haseltine listed 13 obverse/reverse combinations for 1795 flowing-hair alone
Type Flowing Hair Dated attribution 160,295 Survivors — Marriages Haseltine listed 13 obverse/reverse combinations for 1795 flowing-hair alone
1795 Draped Bust	Draped Bust, Small Eagle	no attribution	42,738	OBTAINABLE	—	Haseltine Nos. 14–15
Type Draped Bust, Small Eagle Dated attribution 42,738 Survivors — Marriages Haseltine Nos. 14–15
1796	Draped Bust, Small Eagle	72,920	79,920	SCARCE	—	Small/Large Date × Small/Large Letters — three of four combinations exist
Type Draped Bust, Small Eagle Dated attribution 79,920 Survivors — Marriages Small/Large Date × Small/Large Letters — three of four combinations exist
1797	Draped Bust, Small Eagle	7,776	7,776	SCARCE	~3,000+	9
Type Draped Bust, Small Eagle Dated attribution 7,776 Survivors ~3,000+ Marriages 9
1798 Small Eagle	Draped Bust, Small Eagle	no attribution	40,000	KEY	—	13
Type Draped Bust, Small Eagle Dated attribution 40,000 Survivors — Marriages 13
1798 Heraldic Eagle	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle	no attribution	287,536	OBTAINABLE	—	the series' largest year — 30 obverses with 17 reverses, per Haseltine
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dated attribution 287,536 Survivors — Marriages the series' largest year — 30 obverses with 17 reverses, per Haseltine
1799	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle	423,515	423,515	OBTAINABLE	~9,380	9
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dated attribution 423,515 Survivors ~9,380 Marriages 9
1800	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle	220,920	220,920	OBTAINABLE	~5,725	at least six distinct pairs described in Chapman's 1907 Stickney catalogue
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dated attribution 220,920 Survivors ~5,725 Marriages at least six distinct pairs described in Chapman's 1907 Stickney catalogue
1801	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle	54,454	54,454	SCARCE	~2,000	at least 3, distinguished by reverse leaf position
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dated attribution 54,454 Survivors ~2,000 Marriages at least 3, distinguished by reverse leaf position
1802	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle	41,650	41,650	SCARCE	—	at least 3 — 2/1 overdate in Narrow and Wide Date, plus Perfect Date
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dated attribution 41,650 Survivors — Marriages at least 3 — 2/1 overdate in Narrow and Wide Date, plus Perfect Date
1803	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle	66,064	85,634	OBTAINABLE	—	at least 2 — Small 3 and Large 3
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dated attribution 85,634 Survivors — Marriages at least 2 — Small 3 and Large 3
1804 Class I	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle — struck c. 1834–35	no attribution	8	CROWN	—	one obverse, one reverse
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle — struck c. 1834–35 Dated attribution 8 Survivors — Marriages one obverse, one reverse
1804 Class II	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle — struck c. 1858, plain edge	no attribution	1	CROWN	—	the Class I obverse, struck without a collar
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle — struck c. 1858, plain edge Dated attribution 1 Survivors — Marriages the Class I obverse, struck without a collar
1804 Class III	Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle — struck c. 1858–60, edge lettered afterwards	no attribution	7	CROWN	—	recut obverse, substitute reverse
Type Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle — struck c. 1858–60, edge lettered afterwards Dated attribution 7 Survivors — Marriages recut obverse, substitute reverse

DELIVERED — OBSERVED / DERIVED, MINT REGISTRY VIA S28 · DATED ATTRIBUTION AND SURVIVORS — ESTIMATED, PCGS COINFACTS, OBSERVED 2026-08-23 · CLASS — OUNCEDESK EDITORIAL

PROTOTYPE SCOPE — 1794 IS THE ONE ISSUE PAGE BUILT TO THE NEW TEMPLATE. THE OTHER FOURTEEN ARE NOT LINKED BECAUSE THEIR NEW PAGES DO NOT EXIST YET; THEY REMAIN LIVE AT THEIR CURRENT URLS UNDER /coins/.

GUIDE

Why the early dollars matter

This is where American money starts. A mint powered by horses, in a building whose authorising statute kept nearly expiring, struck1,439,517 dollars between 1794 and 1805 and then stopped for thirty years. Almost all of them went abroad, one profitable shipment at a time. There is no hoard, no bag, no vault find — when a 1794 dollar appears, it appears alone.

And because the Mint counted deliveries rather than dates, the series also produced the most famous bookkeeping error in the hobby: a coin dated 1804 that was struck thirty years later for a king who did not collect coins.

NOTE.—Not susceptible of exact statement by years of actual date of coin, the registry of annual coinage being of coin delivered by coiners of mints within the given year, and these deliveries not having been invariably completed within the year of the date of coin, as now required.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE MINT, FY1888, P. 209

This series has no hoard. There is no keg, no bag, no vault find, no Randall-style discovery that reset the market for an early dollar date. When a 1794 dollar appears, it appears one at a time. That absence is not a gap in the research — it is the story, and it is why the survival estimates are as low as they are.

BOOKSfree to read, in full

From The American Series

The Early Dollars — An OunceDesk Family Guide — 10 chapters covering exactly this span, built from 32 primary sources. Every citation in it resolves to a document in the Archive.

CHAPTER ONEThe First SilverReadA shop with horses, a statute about to expire, and 1,758 coins on an October afternoon — where every early dollar comes from.
CHAPTER TWOThe CarouselReadAccepted by count, exported by the crate: the banker's habit that consumed ninety-seven percent of the series.
CHAPTER THREEThe Way of SeeingReadNo two dies were ever alike. An 1881 auction catalogue taught the hobby to read them — and the skill has never stopped paying.
CHAPTER FOURTwelve MarriagesReadA teaching set, ranked by lesson rather than price: attribute these twelve and you can attribute the series.

All 10 chapters, formats and sources →

THE VOLUME

IMPRINT: The American Series
CHAPTERS: 10
SOURCES: 32
FORMATS: PDF · EPUB · Web
PRICE: Free

ARCHIVE43 sources · 37 held

The primary record

Grouped as the Archive classes them. A source that OunceDesk holds has a page of its own showing every other place the site uses it.

Mint and government records · 8

S1Mint Report 1803 (American State Papers, Finance) — United States Mint · Director Elias Boudinot; Treasurer Benjamin RushHELD · PD
S2Message from the President communicating the report of the Director of the Mint (received January 25, 1805) — United States Mint · Elias BoudinotHELD · PD
S3Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, FY1888 — United States MintHELD · PD
S4Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, FY1889 — United States MintHELD · PD
S5Message from the President transmitting a report of the Director of the Mint (1840) — United States MintHELD · PD
S6Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, FY1971 — United States MintHELD · PD

Other · 32

S7A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations (1842) — Jacob R. Eckfeldt & William E. DuBois, Assayers of the MintHELD · PD
S8The American Numismatical Manual (1859) — Montroville W. DickesonHELD · PD
S9A Description of Ancient and Modern Coins in the Cabinet Collection at the Mint of the United States (1860) — James Ross Snowden, Director of the MintHELD · PD
S10American Journal of Numismatics, vols. 1–5 (1866–71) — American Numismatic and Archæological SocietyHELD · PD
S11Priced catalogue of the numismatic collection formed by Joseph J. Mickley (October 28 – November 2, 1867) — W. Elliot WoodwardHELD · PD
S12Catalogue of the numismatic collection formed by Joseph J. Mickley — unpriced copy — W. Elliot WoodwardHELD · PD

Numismatic analysis · 1

S28"Dollars and Half Dollars of 1794 and 1795", The Numismatist, March 1927, p. 151 — Theodore J. VennHELD · PD

Statute · 1

S30Coinage Laws of the United States, 1792 to 1894 — US Senate (S. Rept. 235 pt. 2, 53d Cong., 2d sess., 1894)HELD · PD

Commercial catalogues and census · 1

S31PCGS CoinFacts — Professional Coin Grading ServiceCITED, NOT HELD · LIMITED

ARCHIVE6 registered, unreconciled

Open questions

Where two records disagree, OunceDesk records the disagreement rather than picking a winner. These are not gaps in the research; they are the research.

OPEN QUESTION

1796 — 72,920 (Mint) vs 79,920 (trade)

Every Mint printing the OunceDesk Archive holds gives 72,920, and Venn reported "perfect accord" on the figure in 1927. PCGS carries 79,920 on all three 1796 varieties. A single transposed digit, propagated for a century.

STATUS: Recorded, not reconciled
IN THE RECORD: S3 S4 S5 S8 S28S31

OPEN QUESTION

1803 — 66,064 (Mint) vs 85,634 (trade), and the 19,570 fossil inside it

The Mint's own 1803 quarterly abstract sums to 66,064 and the registry agrees. PCGS gives 85,634 for the 1803 Small 3. The gap is 19,570 — precisely the 1804 delivery figure. Somewhere in the twentieth century the 1804 delivery was moved onto the 1803 date and nobody wrote it down. That reassignment is probably physically right and documentarily unsupported, and it is published here as an interpretation, not as a record.

STATUS: The series' most instructive arithmetic — see The 1803 dollar
IN THE RECORD: S1 S3 S4S31D1

OPEN QUESTION

1799 — 423,515 (every Mint printing) vs 429,515 (Snowden)

The Numismatist noted in 1899 that Snowden gave 429,515 while Dickeson gave 423,515. Every Mint printing this Archive holds gives 423,515.

STATUS: Recorded, not reconciled
IN THE RECORD: S1 S3 S4 S5 S6 S22

MARKET

What they cost

No melt module on this series, deliberately: the cheapest genuine early dollar trades in four figures and the best-known one has realised $10,016,875. A live silver price is not a floor under any of them, and showing one would imply it was.

Key dates, rarity and auction records →