1801

The 1801 Draped Bust Dollar carries a 54,454-piece annual mintage at the Philadelphia Mint, a sharp step down from the 220,920-piece 1800 figure and reflecting reduced silver-dollar production as the early American Mint balanced silver bullion across multiple denominations. The 1801 carries the standard Heraldic Eagle reverse with 13 obverse stars and the Robert Scot engraving of the Gilbert Stuart obverse portrait. The 1801 marks the start of the closing-period reduction in Draped Bust Dollar production that would continue through 1803 before silver-dollar coinage was suspended in 1804.

Strike quality on the 1801 varies across the production, with central definition on Liberty and the Heraldic Eagle softening on later die states. Most surviving examples grade VG to VF from heavy circulation in the early 1800s, with PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations clustering at F and VF. Mint State examples are scarce above MS62 and genuinely rare at MS65 and above. Die marriages are catalogued by the Bowers-Borckardt (BB) attribution system.

The 1801 is a regular common date that trades at modest premiums above the most common 1799 and 1800 issues at most grades, supported by the smaller mintage and the closing-period demand. The 1801 pairs with the 1802 and 1803 as the matched closing-three-year Heraldic Eagle Draped Bust trio. Authentication concerns center on cleaning, polishing, edge damage, and counterfeit detection; certified slabs from PCGS or NGC are the standard purchase route at higher grades. Long-term Draped Bust Dollar pricing has held strong above silver bullion content across the entire 1795-1804 series, with eye appeal at higher grades depending on surface preservation, edge integrity, and original-skin patina as much as on technical strike characteristics. Modern auction-house specialist sales such as those at Heritage Auctions, Stack's Bowers, and Legend Rare Coin Auctions continue to refine the certified-population profile and the documented pedigree research for the Draped Bust Dollar series. For the early-1800s Draped Bust production wind-down context and the broader Robert Scot engraving history, see the Draped Bust Dollar series history.