1801 Draped Bust Dollar - Edge Lettering

Hello Bradenc, welcome to the forum!


The edge lettering of early US coinage was applied to the planchet before striking and the process was fairly crude. Many errors in lettering such as doubled letters and misalignments are known, particularly for the Bust Half series which is extensively collected for die varieties. Overton numbers are used to identify particular varieties among the bust halves while Bolander numbers apply for the silver dollars. Some varieties are known to be very scarce and will sell for higher prices than more common types. I don't know whether Bolander numbers identify variations in edge letters; maybe some of our forum experts have some input?

Counterfeits are a big problem for bust dollars and since these are expensive coins it makes sense to have them authenticated and graded by a major grading service like PCGS, NGC, or ANACS.

We would love to see some images of the coin in question if you can provide them. Any chance the dealer at your shop (market?) would let you take digital photos of the coin?

FYI, here are images of an 1801 dollar graded XF-45 by PCGS. This coin sold for $5175 in a recent Heritage auction and is the B-1, BB-211 variety. The description did not say anything about edge lettering characteristics. If the design features (portrait, date, letters, rims, and all other features) of the dollar you examined do not closely match this coin it is almost certainly a fake. A real one in almost any grade is worth much more than $200, or $400. Caveat emptor!