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A 1795 Silver Dollar Is Expected to Sell for a Record $1.25 Million

By Fang Block
April 4, 2022



A 1795 silver dollar is expected to set an all-time record for the category when it goes up for sale on Tuesday with an estimated value of US$1.25 million.

The rare coin will be offered at a live auction at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo in Baltimore, marking its first appearance on the market since 1996, according to Stack’s Bowers Galleries, which is handling the sale.

The Draped Bust silver dollar, featuring a bust of Liberty, was minted from 1795 to 1803, and was reproduced, dated 1804 into the 1850s. The design succeeded the Flowing Hair dollar, the first silver dollar struck by the United States Mint.

The silver dollar offered for sale is one of only three specimens with a centered bust, according to Stack’s Bowers Galleries, a leading numismatics auction house.

“It is one of the most spectacular survivors of this issue and was potentially one of the very first coins struck from the dies,” says Brian Kendrella, president and CEO of Stack’s Bowers Galleries. “It is an historic relic from America’s formative years and is likely unique,” possibly produced for presentation purposes.

The current price record for a 1795 Draped Bust dollar is US$1.06 million, set at a Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction in May 2016.

The present example was held in the collection of the late Paul Zito, a medical doctor in New York who died in 2005, and his wife, Rosalie. More than 92 coins from their collection, assembled over eight years from 1995 to 2003, will be sold at Stack’s Bowers Galleries, with a total estimate of US$3 million.

The collection has been stored safely by the family since 2005, the auction house said.

The entire Zito Collection is also available for viewing and bidding on the firm’s website, with live bidding to take place on Tuesday evening at the Baltimore Convention Center.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/a-1795-silver-dollar-expected-to-sell-for-a-record-1-25-million-01649107732