Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature US Coin Sale 1258 2-6 Aug 2017
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Early Dollars
1795 $1 Flowing Hair, Two Leaves, Silver Plug, B-1, BB-21, R.2, XF45 PCGS. A plentiful variety for 1795, and one that is most easily distinguished by the 7 in the date punched over a 1. However, BB-21 is rare with a silver plug in the center. Even more uncommon about this piece is the high degree of visibility of the plug. Many times the plug is there but it is not all that apparent, but on this piece there is no mistaking the semicircle on the upper neck of Liberty. As with many of the silver plugs, the plug itself is a different color than the host planchet, suggesting that they were perhaps struck from a different batch of silver.
The purpose of the plugs has been suggested in the past to have been an attempt to alter the silver fineness of the dollar as a whole, although further study in recent years indicates that the plugs were likely inserted to increase the weight of an underweight planchet. The process of melting, refining, rolling, and punching planchets in 1795 was tedious and time-consuming. Overweight planchets could be filed to adjust their weight, but underweight planchets either needed to be destroyed or have weight added. Inserting a silver plug into the center of the planchet would have accomplished the latter.
This is a lovely coin and would make a perfect XF type piece, even if it didn't have a plug. The surfaces are remarkably clean with even wear over the highpoints. The fields and recesses are a rich gray-lilac with light gray accents over the devices. There are no reportable abrasions, just a short streak of grease on the reverse rim at 4 o'clock.
Ex: FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2006), lot 3219.
HID02901242017
1795 $1 Flowing Hair, Two Leaves, Silver Plug, B-1, BB-21, R.2, XF45 PCGS. A plentiful variety for 1795, and one that is most easily distinguished by the 7 in the date punched over a 1. However, BB-21 is rare with a silver plug in the center. Even more uncommon about this piece is the high degree of visibility of the plug. Many times the plug is there but it is not all that apparent, but on this piece there is no mistaking the semicircle on the upper neck of Liberty. As with many of the silver plugs, the plug itself is a different color than the host planchet, suggesting that they were perhaps struck from a different batch of silver.
The purpose of the plugs has been suggested in the past to have been an attempt to alter the silver fineness of the dollar as a whole, although further study in recent years indicates that the plugs were likely inserted to increase the weight of an underweight planchet. The process of melting, refining, rolling, and punching planchets in 1795 was tedious and time-consuming. Overweight planchets could be filed to adjust their weight, but underweight planchets either needed to be destroyed or have weight added. Inserting a silver plug into the center of the planchet would have accomplished the latter.
This is a lovely coin and would make a perfect XF type piece, even if it didn't have a plug. The surfaces are remarkably clean with even wear over the highpoints. The fields and recesses are a rich gray-lilac with light gray accents over the devices. There are no reportable abrasions, just a short streak of grease on the reverse rim at 4 o'clock.
Ex: FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2006), lot 3219.
HID02901242017