1797 Silver Dollar (1797 S$1) 9x7 Stars Large Letters, PCGS AU50. BB-73. Originality and clean surfaces characterize this lovely Draped Bust 1797 Dollar. It shows a mixture of light grey, tan, and yellow toning on the obverse with a couple of darker spots of brown mixed with light grey, a touch of blue and tan on the reverse. The central portions are lighter than the peripheries. Light wear is seen on the high points, especially on the eagles breast and legs, in keeping with the grade. The obverse strike shows central weakness that makes the die look almost unfinished, which is characteristic of the date and variety. Mint Director William DeSaussure wanted to improve the nations coinage.

It is said that he convinced Gilbert Stuart, the famous portrait artist, to prepare a sketch that would ultimately become the main device for the obverse of the silver dollar. A drawing of Mrs. Ann Bingham was submitted. John Eckstein translated this drawing into prototypes for the device punches. However, in the process Eckstein lost many of the nuances of the Stuart work, which may explain why his family did not acknowledge his role in the coins development. Of course it is also possible that Stuart had nothing to do with the coin, which would also account for his familys reticence. The obverse shows a full figured bust of Liberty facing right with nine stars on the left and seven on the right. LIBERTY is above and between the two arcs of stars, and the date is below.

The reverse of the coin showed a revised eagle that was shorter in wingspan and heavier than the preceding one, with clouds below its feet. It is surrounded by a wreath of olive and palm branches that are tied in a bow below. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around the wreath. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin. The coins edge is lettered HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT with decorations between the words.

The obverse has sixteen stars, the last one for Tennessee, which was admitted to the Union in June, 1796. Obviously if states kept joining the Union, stars of this size could not be accommodated. With this realization, the next years dollar had thirteen stars. However, later in the year a fifteen star obverse dollar was also struck, probably from a left over earlier die. (It is interesting to note that Saint-Gaudens was able to place forty-six stars, later Barber added two more, on the double eagle, which is about five millimeters smaller in diameter than the dollar; however, he did have more advanced technology at his disposal.)

There were several reasons that the 1797 dollars had a limited mintage of 7,776 including all the major varieties. The the annual epidemic of yellow fever killed Mint employees and caused the Mint to be closed for at least two months each fall. There was extensive die breakage, and there was the fear that the Mint would be closed permanently because some members of Congress felt it was just too costly to manufacture coins domestically.

The dollar coins of 1797 have several varieties. Two of them had nine stars to the left and seven to the right with either small or large reverse letters. A third variety had ten stars to the left and six to the right. The present coin has the nine - seven star arrangement with large letters. In its population report, PCGS shows 456 coins certified in all grades. In AU50 there are 17 with 26 better.