1803 $1 Draped Bust Silver Dollar, Large 3 BB-255 PCGS XF40 (CAC)

Here is an attractive example from the last issue of the Draped Bust dollar series (1795-1803). It was the last year that silver dollars were struck for circulation until the Seated Liberty dollar series of 1840 to 1873. PCGS has graded 50 examples of the BB-255 variety. Of those, there are 8 in XF40 with 28 finer. In CAC, there are only seven pieces that have the CAC sticker. Of those, there are 3 in XF40 with 3 finer.

“In 1803,” writes Ron Guth in PCGS Coinfacts, “engravers at the Philadelphia mint used two different punches for the 3 of the date on Silver Dollars of that year. One is known as the Small 3, the other as the Large 3. The difference is obvious, not so much because of an actual size difference, but because of the dramatic difference in the shapes of the 3's. On the Small 3, the left end of the top bar of the 3 has no upper serif, and the lower serif points down. On the Large 3, the left end of the top bar of the 3 ends with top and lower serifs aligned in a vertical arrangement, pointing up and down.”

Date comparison of the 1803 Draped Bust dollar. Photo: PCGS Coinfacts.