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Draped Bust coins: the silver after Flowing Hair

Draped Bust is the US look from the late 1790s into the 1800s. Liberty with a draped neckline. Small eagle, then heraldic eagle. Early, fat, and usually worn.

A Draped Bust United States silver dollar on green felt

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Draped Bust is the United States coin look after Flowing Hair and before Capped Bust. Liberty has a draped neckline. Hair is tied. The reverse starts as a small eagle and becomes the heraldic eagle.

Dollars, halves, quarters, dimes, half dimes, cents, half cents. Gold too. Early federal coinage. Half dimes.

What you are holding

These are early. They circulated. Most survivors are worn. A Fine Draped Bust dime is a type coin people collect. An About Good is still a type coin. Circulated grades.

The 1804 dollar is a Draped Bust story and a museum story. It is not the coin in a coffee can.

What it is not

If Liberty is sitting, you are in Seated or Gobrecht. If she wears a cloth cap on a fat half, you are in Capped Bust.

Do not clean. Don’t clean. A shop will weigh the silver and look at the date. Common dates are type plus metal. Rare dates are a different voice.

More on the coin and money library.

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