As is the norm for early United States coins, the official calendar year production figure for 1797 dollars is quite misleading. Given the surviving pool of 1797-dated silver dollars, the reported annual total of 7,776 pieces is way too low. It’s likely that all or many of these coins were dated 1795 or 1796, since the Mint could not afford to discard usable dies. Most of the 1797-dated dollars are believed to have been among the more than 300 thousand struck during 1798. There are just three die marriages for the 1797 silver dollar, and all are readily distinguishable without a reference book. Two obverse dies were paired with three reverses, and the star arrangement and reverse lettering sizes make these marriages easy to attribute. Each obverse bears 16 stars corresponding to the number of states in the Union, but one die has them arranged nine left and seven right, while another has ten left and six right. Two reverse dies have Large Letters, while the sole Small Letters reverse was also used to coin dollars dated 1795, 1796 and 1798. BB-72 is the scarce die marriage, while BB-73 is the more common of the remaining two. This date is rare in Mint State and About Uncirculated. Worn examples are fairly plentiful, but they are not seen as often as the 1796 dollars. Since most collectors seek only a single piece to represent the Small Eagle type, the differences in values do not reflect this relative rarity as much as they would were this series more popular by dates.

A “1799 overdated on 1798” United States silver dollar is a Draped Bust dollar featuring a double-stamped date. This error occurred when the U.S. Mint’s chief engraver, Robert Scot, punched the new “9” over an older “8” on a die to reuse it. The overdate variety is rare and highly prized by collectors, making it significantly more valuable than a standard 1799 Draped Bust dollar.