1795 Silver Dollar - 1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar - 1795 Early S$1 NGC AU58, BB-14. This rare, lustrous, early silver 1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar, variety BB-14, is the finest known at both NGC and PCGS. The toned surfaces of this 1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar are light gray and steel-gray with hints of light tan and rose. The strike of this 1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar is above average with strong details on Libertys hair and the eagles wings. Although often seen on coins of this date, there are no planchet adjustment marks on this piece. Just a touch of wear on the highest points keeps this coin from a Mint State grade. The surfaces are original and exceptionally clean for the grade with a couple of barely noticeable abrasion marks.

The coin, BB-14, is a Two Leaves, Head of 1794 type. Star 15 is hidden from Libertys view, entirely under the bust. This is the only 1795 obverse with this feature. The reverse has two leaves under each wing. There are nine berries on the left branch of the wreath and eight berries on the right. Almost exactly between the S and T of STATES there is a berry. This is the only variety reverse on which this berry is centered.

Chief Engraver Robert Scot designed the Flowing Hair Dollar. It was issued from 1794 to 1795. It showed a portrait of Liberty facing right with her hair loosely tied behind her head. This feature evolved from the Flowing Hair Liberty portrait that was featured on Joseph Wrights Libertas Americana medal of 1783. Over time Liberty was turned to the right and was shown without the liberty pole and cap. However, the basic idea of Libertys hair free flowing, is similar to the earlier concept. Above her head is the word LIBERTY, and the date is below. There are fifteen stars in accord with the number of states that made up the Union in 1794, eight to the left and seven to the right. The reverse shows a perched eagle with wings spread looking to the right. A wreath tied with a bow encircles the eagle. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc around the eagle. Except for its edge lettering, the coin has no denomination-- something that might appear as a sign of ineptitude on the part of early Mint employees to someone familiar with United States coinage of the 21st century. The omission was intentional, however, since United States coinage was new to the world market of the 18th century and the term Dollar would have been unfamiliar to merchants of the day. Like European coinage of the time, silver and gold pieces were valued by their weight and fineness so the denomination was largely irrelevant.

Thomas Jefferson chose Robert Scot to be the first Chief Engraver of the United States Mint on November 23, 1793. Scot was born in 1744 in Edinburgh, Scotland or England. (Documentary evidence is lacking as to where he was born.)  He was trained as a watchmaker in England and learned engraving afterwards. He moved to the United States in 1777, where he worked as an engraver of plates, bills of exchange, and office scales. During the Revolution, he was an engraver of paper money. In 1780 he was made the State Engraver of Virginia. He moved to Philadelphia the next year. He was appointed Chief Engraver of the United States Mint on November 23, 1793 by David Rittenhouse, Mint Director. His salary in 1795 was $1,200 per year. The Mint Director received only $800 dollars per year more. Scots ability to make dies was limited, and he was advanced in years with failing eyesight. His work was somewhat less than that done in Europe at the time, and Scot was criticized for its poor quality. He was responsible for designs of most of Americas first coins. These include the Flowing Hair and the Draped Bust motifs used on the early silver coins, and the gold quarter eagle, half eagle and eagle. Scot also designed the 1794-1797 half-cent, the 1800-1808 draped bust-half cent, and the Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal. Scot died on November 1, 1823 and was succeeded by William Kneass as Chief Engraver.

The early Mint in Philadelphia had many challenges. The designers, engravers, and press operators were men who had worked in other fields. They struggled to learn their new trade. Production was sporadic. For the new Mint to coin each of the mandated denominations, it took four years. Foreign coinage continued to circulate along with American coins for many years.
Record keeping in the Mints early years was fairly inaccurate. At the end of the eighteenth century Philadelphia had recovered from the British occupation and Revolutionary War. It was the second largest city in the English-speaking world, but it could do nothing to protect its citizens from the mosquito-borne epidemic of yellow fever. Its wealthy citizens went to the countryside to escape, and the poor grimly waited their fate. Of course these annual epidemics caused havoc with all manufacturing that required continuity, such as a coinage sequence. In addition to yellow fever, chaos at the Mint was also caused by chronic bullion shortages, coin dies that would wear out and had to be re-engraved because they were not taken out of production until they failed completely, and a Chief Engraver, Robert Scot, who was in his seventies and had failing eyesight.  

The BB-14 variety of the 1795 silver dollar is rare. Only 19 have been certified by both major grading services in all conditions, and these numbers do not account for resubmissions or crossovers. In its population report, NGC shows the present coin in AU58 with none better. The finest certified at PCGS are 2 AU55s.