1798 $1 Draped Bust Silver Dollar, Large Eagle PCGS VF30 (CAC)

Dramatic, well-struck example in the popular PCGS Old Green Holder!

Here’s an American numismatic classic: the 1798 Draped Bust dollar in the more affordable  grade of VF30 (CAC). PCGS has graded 335 as VF30 with 1,017 finer. In CAC, there are 34 in VF30 with 126 finer.

Ann Willing Bingham at the age of 21, the alleged model for the Draped Bust coinage, as rendered by Gilbert Stuart in 1785. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

The Draped Bust Liberty design is iconic in American numismatics. The obverse was engraved by Robert Scot, chief U.S. Mint engraver. The same design was also displayed upon the fractional copper and silver coinage as well, but first appeared on the silver dollar.

Legend tells us that the appearance of Liberty was modeled upon a Philadelphia socialite, Ann Willing Bingham, from a drawing by artist Gilbert Stuart. This design change after only one year (from the Flowing Hair type) was the brain-child of Mint Director Henry DeSaussure (and probably with the encouragement of President Washington) in his desire to improve the appearance of all U.S. coinage. John Eckstein, an artist from Rhode Island, crafted a plaster model of Stuart's rendering, from which Scot prepared the dies.