Lot 1169
1799 Draped Bust Dollar. Normal date. EF-40. An extremely rare coin, either way you look at it! First, the 1844 Uruguay Un Peso Fuerte was struck during the civil war siege of Montevideo at the Mint located there. Silver from all available sources was gathered up and struck without the usual refining or other preparation, and thus many show undertypes from Latin Pesos and two show undertypes of United States Bust silver dollars, which were apparently in circulation in Uruguay during 1844. One of these was sold in Kagin's 1983 ANA Sale, lot 1722, and this coin now resides permanently in the ANS. This is the other example with the Bust dollar undertype. After careful research, the undertype Bust dollar is almost certainly a 1799 BB-164, B-17 Bust dollar. This was determined by close examination of the arrowheads and UNITED STAT, which are the most visible portion of the undertype. To attribute this coin note that the first arrowhead ends about midway under the U of UNITED, and using a strong glass a hint of the die crack on the 1799 BB-164, B-17 can be seen through the middle of the U to the base of the N, another crack is seen through the ST of STATES, and the position of the T of STATES over the cloud seems to confirm that this variety was used for the host coin.
While the 1844 Uruguay Un Peso Fuerte is rare in its own right, but struck over a United States Bust dollar makes it extremely desirable! The surfaces are steel gray in color, and there are no surface problems of any kind. The undertype of the Bust dollar is visible on both the obverse and reverse, with most of the arrows, UNITED STATE and part of eagle's right wing clear with a glass. The only other overstrike involving a Bust dollar that we know of is the 1804 dollar struck over an 1857 Bern Shooting Thaler. An extremely rare and desirable example of countries borrowing from each other to make their own sovereign coinage. Additional suggested sources of information are Alcedo Almanzar and Dale Seppa in Coins of Uruguay, 1971, and Coin World articles on these overstrikes dated September 20, 1993 and November 15, 1993 and possibly Freeman Craig, who is a noted authority on these issues. Our thanks to researcher W. David Perkins for this information.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 6,500.
From Superior's sale circa 1992 and sold privately in August 1993, it also appeared in a Ponterio auction circa 1997-98, then next in Bowers and Merena's LaRiviere Part III Sale, May 2001, lot 23, and the John Haugh Collection.
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| Realized $6,670 |
