1802 $1 Draped Bust Silver Dollar, BB-241 Narrow Date PCGS VF35

Here’s a more reasonably priced 1802 Draped Bust dollar in the collectible grade of VF35. The BB-241 Narrow Date is a popular 1802 silver dollar variety, easily surpassing the total availability of all other 1802 varieties. The right foot of the T in LIBERTY is missing on all BB-241 dollars, serving as an easily observed diagnostic along with the Narrow Date. 

PCGS has graded only 59 examples of the BB-241 Narrow Date 1802 Draped Bust dollar. Of those, there are 8 in VF35 with 35 finer. Collector’s Universe prices this variety at $4,000.00 in VF35.

Despite its total mintage of 41,650, there are not many 1802 Draped Bust dollar survivors today. That is because a significant amount of those coins were shipped off to China in trade for tea and other goods. Even though the U.S. dollar had a lower silver content than the Spanish dollars (US=371.25 grains of silver vs. Spanish=377.25 grains), there was an extensive exchange arbitrage—at par—in the West Indies. However, because such U.S. dollars weighed less than the Spanish dollars, after arriving in the Orient, American coins were chopmarked, discounted below their bullion value, and the vast majority of them were melted into Chinese bullion called sycee.

Painting of the First Philadelphia Mint, where this piece was struck in 1802. Image: public domain.