1796 Small Date, Small Letters

The 1796 Small Date Small Letters Draped Bust Dollar is one of three documented 1796 die-pair varieties, with Small numerals in the date paired with Small letters in the reverse legend. The 1796 was the first full production year for the Draped Bust design, with a combined 79,920-piece annual mintage split across the three documented date-and-letter combinations. The 1796 Small Date Small Letters carries the Small Eagle reverse that defines the early Draped Bust era through mid-1798 and the Robert Scot engraving of the Gilbert Stuart obverse portrait.

Strike quality on the 1796 Small Date Small Letters varies across the small annual production, with central definition on Liberty and the eagle softening on later die states. Most surviving examples grade VG to VF from heavy circulation in the late 1790s and early 1800s, with PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations clustering at F and VF. Mint State examples are genuinely rare. Die marriages are catalogued by the Bowers-Borckardt (BB) attribution system, with the 1796 Small Date Small Letters representing specific die marriages within the 1796 production cohort; the smaller numerals and letters reflect the Mint working through multiple punch sizes during the early Draped Bust production years.

The 1796 Small Date Small Letters is a regular common date for the Small Eagle subset and trades at premium levels at every grade reflecting the small surviving population and the early-American context. The 1796 Small Date Small Letters pairs with the 1796 Large Date Small Letters and 1796 Small Date Large Letters as the three matched 1796 date-and-letter variety triad. Authentication concerns center on cleaning, polishing, edge damage, and counterfeit detection; certified slabs from PCGS or NGC with BB die-marriage attribution noted on the holder are essential at any meaningful price level. For the early Draped Bust production history and the BB attribution context, see the Draped Bust Dollar series history.