1797 DRAPED BUST $1, 9X7 LARGE LETTERS AU58

9 X 7 STARS. LARGE LETTERS. B-1, BB-73. ONLY FOUR COINS GRADED HIGHER AT PCGS. TIED FOR HIGHEST WITH A CAC STICKER. CAC. The United States Mint recorded a mintage of just 7,776 Silver Dollars for calendar year 1797. This is the lowest yearly total for this denomination from 1795-1803. Apparently, banks and bullion dealers deposited little silver bullion with the Mint during 1797. Indeed, few Half Dollars were struck in 1797 and no Quarters were delivered that year. A fair number of Half Dimes and Dimes were struck in 1797, however, so what little silver bullion was desposited was largely converted into these smaller denomiantions. According to Q. David Bowers (1993), most of the 7,776 Silver Dollars struck in 1797 were actually from earlier-dated dies. The author believes that most, if not all 1797-dated Silver Dollars were struck in early 1798. The mintage for this issue, therefore, is probably included in the total of 327,536 pieces reported for calendar year 1798. Bowers estimates that only 60,000 Silver Dollars were struck bearing the 1797 date. The 1797 is the first early Dollar that displays 16 stars around the obverse periphery in recognition of Tennessee's admission into the Union as the 16th state in 1796. Only three die marriages are known, all of which have seperate listings in the Guide Book based on the arrangement of the obverse stars and the size of the letters in the reverse legend.