1804 Draped Bust Dollar

About This Coin

The 1804 Draped Bust Dollar is a United States dollar from the Draped Bust Dollars 1795-1804 series — the final year of the series. No dollars dated 1804 were struck in 1804: the 19,570 dollars the Mint recorded for that year came from dies dated 1803. The obverse features Liberty facing right with draped bust and ribbon-bound hair, a portrait traditionally credited to Gilbert Stuart, and the reverse displays a heraldic eagle, shield on breast, gripping an olive branch and a bundle of arrows, with the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM on a scroll in its beak. The Class I coins were made in 1834 and 1835 for presentation sets taken on Edmund Roberts' diplomatic mission to Asia; the Class II and Class III pieces followed about 1858, made for collectors, and the Class III had their edges lettered afterward. Sixteen are known: eight Class I, one Class II and seven Class III. Struck in 89.2% silver, 10.8% copper, weighing 26.96 grams, 40 mm in diameter, with a lettered: hundred cents one dollar or unit edge. Designed by Robert Scot.