1797 16 Stars

The 1797 16 Stars Draped Bust dime captures a fleeting policy moment at the Philadelphia Mint. Tennessee was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796, becoming the 16th state, and Mint engravers added a 16th star to the obverse die to acknowledge the new member. Production using this 16-star obverse began in 1797 but was short-lived. Mint Director Elias Boudinot soon decided that adding a star for each new state was impractical and ordered a return to 13. Combined 1797 dime mintage came to only 25,261 across both 13-star and 16-star obverses, making this earlier-produced 16-star variety scarce in any grade and genuinely rare in problem-free, higher-grade preservation today across markets.

Robert Scot retained the draped Liberty bust based on Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Anne Willing Bingham, paired with the Small Eagle reverse, a delicate bird perched within an open wreath. Specifications follow the series standard: 89.24% silver, 2.70 grams, roughly 19 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Authentication begins with verified star count, since added or altered stars are a documented method of creating fake rarities from a more common 13-star variety. Die marriages catalogued in Davis-Logan and the John Reich Collectors Society references help confirm legitimate examples; collectors should match die cracks, star positions, and date placement against published plates. Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) certification is essentially mandatory.

The 1797 16 Stars draws strong demand from both type collectors and variety specialists seeking both 1796-1797 reverse Small Eagle and obverse star variations. Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers regularly produce strong results when problem-free examples appear. Population reports from PCGS and NGC give the best read on conditional rarity, and certified examples consistently outperform raw equivalents in the resale market. For more on early Mint star-count history, see the Draped Bust Dime series history.