1797 $1 9x7 Stars, Large Letters MS(PCGS#6863)

1797 $1 9x7 Stars, Large Letters MS (PCGS#6863)

February 2026 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part II

Lot Description: BB Die State III, Salyards Die State II-III/I. Exceptionally attractive in an example of both the type and die pairing. The surfaces are impressively smooth overall with no detracting adjustment marks, handling marks, or other blemishes. Both sides are dressed in light pewter gray patina with iridescent outlines of vivid reddish-rose and olive to the design elements - very attractive. The strike is a bit soft at upper left obverse, reverse at and around the eagle's legs, but overall detail is suitably bold in a lightly circulated dollar of this challenging design type.<p>Bowers-Borckardt 73 is the sole die marriage associated with the Stars 9x7, Large Letters <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1797 silver dollar, and it is the median scarcity among the three known die pairings of the issue. Plentiful in an absolute sense, at least by early dollar standards, Harry E. Salyards (2022) estimates that 500 to 850 BB-73 dollars are extant in all grades. With most survivors of this die pairing as a whole grading no finer than VF, the conditionally challenging nature of the BB-73 dollar comes to the fore at the EF level. The present example in PCGS AU-55 is a noteworthy condition rarity and among the finest certified available to today's numismatists.