Heritage to Auction Double Plug 1795 Silver Dollar

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A newly discovered, dual-plugged 1795 Flowing Hair silver dollar will cross the auction block this August at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Anaheim, California.

Double Plug 1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar
The first known 1795 Flowing Hair silver dollar with two inserted plugs has been authenticated by NGC and will be offered by Heritage Auctions on August 10, 2016. Photo credit: Heritage Auctions www.HA.com.

Authenticated by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and graded AU53, this first-of-its-kind rarity has two distinct silver plugs each measuring about 4 millimeters in diameter. Other silver dollars of the year feature plugs, but this is the first known example to have two of them.

"Many 1795 silver dollars, along with a single 1794 dollar and a small number of 1795 half dollars, show evidence of a Mint-inserted plug, apparently to achieve a correct weight for the planchet prior to striking," explained Mark Borckardt, Heritage Senior Cataloger. "Today, for the first time, we have a 1795 Flowing Hair dollar that has two Mint-inserted silver plugs, one at the center of the obverse (heads) and the other at the lower reverse."

The obverse plug appears on Liberty’s neck, tangent to her jaw line which appears through the plug.

Close up plugs 1795 silver dollar
Close up photos show the plugs on the unique 1795 dual-plugged silver dollar on Liberty’s neck on the obverse and between the ribbon ends on the reverse. Photo credit: Heritage Auctions www.HA.com.

The reverse (tails) plug is between the ribbon ends.

"Apparently, the first plug on this coin was not enough to bring up the weight to the standard level of 26.96 grams, so a second plug was inserted," said Borckardt.

Struck at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, this dual-plugged 1795 Flowing Hair silver dollar weighs 26.98 grams.

"Its discovery 221 years after its production makes us eagerly anticipate what other numismatic treasures are still waiting to be found," Borckardt added.

The rarity and others will be presented Aug. 10 during Heritage’s Platinum Night event.

Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $900 million and over 950,000 online bidder members. To learn more about the company, visit HA.com.

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Seth Riesling

Breaking news from yesterday: US Mint to offer 2016 $100 .9995 fine 1-oz platinum American Eagle bullion version coins to APs on July 25.
Per US Mint press release at 4:01pm EDT yesterday July 18.

-NumisDudeTX