1795 Silver Dollar Value: How Much Is It Worth Today?

The first $1 coins were minted in 1794 and 1795. While the year 1794 is regarded as the year when the dollar coin was introduced, in 1795, more coins were minted, and the coin’s design transitioned from the Flowing hair to the Draped Bust.

Keep reading to determine the worth of a 1795 silver dollar coin as we have compiled information to aid you in putting value to these relics of history.

1795 Silver Dollar Value Chart
Silver Dollar Version	1-50	50-60	61-63	64-70
1795 Silver Dollar Flowing Hair	$2100 to 15000	$20000 to $60000	$67000 to 15000	$290000 to $1080000
1795 Silver Dollar Draped Bust	$1850 to $9000	$15500 to $51000	$62500 to 130000	$180000 to $850000

1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar Value

There are few coin variations, as the draped bust and flowing hair silver dollars were the first coins to be minted. While the draped bust silver dollar had no variation made that year, the flowing hair silver dollar had two variations which were discontinued later.

The flowing-hair silver dollar was approved for minting in 1794 and 1795 by Congress under the Coinage Act of 1792. Although the coins were approved for minting in 1791, it took several years to finalize the design and the minting process.

The silver dollar’s size and weight matched the already circulating Spanish peso. The coin got the flowing hair name because the portrait of Lady Liberty was not wearing a winged cap, instead had the hair depicted as flowing freely in the air.

Robert Scott was the designer behind the obverse design and used a simple depiction of Lady Liberty without the winged cap and flowing hair. The neck and the face don’t have many details as the portrait was kept simple.

Above the Lady’s head, you’ll see the legend Liberty written, whereas on the bottom rim, the year 1795 is struck. The year and the word Liberty are separated by a series of stars struck around the coin’s rim.

On the reverse side, a depiction of the eagle is struck, which is seen sitting on a branch. The eagle has its wings spread wide across the coin’s surface and is surrounded by an olive tree branch. Around the outer rim, The United States of America is written in block letters.

1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar 2 Leaves Value

While the details are already mentioned in the above section, this variation had two leaves surrounding the eagle on either side of the branch. The coins are graded using the Sheldon scale from one to seventy and are worth thousands of dollars.

1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar 3 Leaves Value

In this variation, the branch on which the eagle is resting has three leaves on each node. The design was changed to make the portrait look more appealing.

While the 1795 silver dollar was one of the first $1 coins ever minted, the first coin ever minted was the Fugio cent, produced in 1787. The coin weighed ten grams and was rumored to be designed by Benjamin Franklin. In 1791, Congress commissioned the minting of the early silver dollars.

Although President George Washington wanted the process to start immediately, setting up the coin-minting process took a few years. The president wanted to bring the currency into circulation because, at the time, many colonial currencies, like the Spanish peso, were already in circulation and accepted for trade. The silver dollar was also kept similar in size and weight to the Spanish peso.

Although 1795 was the second production year of the silver dollar, it was this year when the mint produced major quantities of the coin. The minting of coins was carried out throughout the year to bring more coins into circulation.

Later in 1795, the draped bust silver dollar was also minted and became the first mass-produced and widely accepted coin in US history. While the coin became widely accepted, it underwent several modifications and design changes. In 1796, the draped bust silver dollar was redesigned, adding two more stars on the obverse side.

The stars at the time represented the number of states. Later that year, another state was added, increasing the total number of stars to 16. Soon, the mint authorities recognized that adding more stars as new states joined one after another was not feasible. The mint had to remake their dies and related equipment only to add a new star.

Therefore, the coin was minted using the original 13 stars, whereas the number of states at the time was above 16. The coins with 14, 15, and 16 stars are seen as very rare and valuable finds because a small amount was minted, and then these improved dies were replaced with the original 13-star die.

Later on, other changes, like the original small eagle, were changed to a bigger and heraldic eagle. This design was used in the 1804 draped bust silver dollar and is labeled as the number one coin among the top 100 U.S coins.

1795 Draped Bust Silver Dollar Value

The draped bust silver dollar of 1795 was a re-design of the flowing hair silver dollar. This design was commissioned after the flowing hair silver dollar came into circulation. The first reason to commission this variety was to lower the coin’s silver content.

The newly proposed composition used 0.8% less silver than the flowing hair silver dollar. Another reason for commissioning the draped bust silver dollar was that the general public needed to appreciate the previous design better.

Surprisingly, the new draped bust design was inspired by the previous coin and was similar to the flowing hair silver dollar, only with a few changes in the lady liberty’s hair details and giving the portrait a more plunging neckline.

In the previous Lady Liberty portrait, the flowing hair silver dollar inspired the designer. Gilbert improved the aesthetic appearance of the portrait by working on Lady Liberty’s hair. He depicted the upper part of her hair secured with a ribbon, and the lower hair above the neck flowed in wavy patterns.

The artist also gave Lady Liberty a deeper neckline which can be appreciated in mint condition coins. The legend Liberty is written on the top, while the year 1795 is struck at the bottom. The stars separating these two legends are all around the rim and are more pointy than those on the flowing hair.

On the reverse side, the eagle is seen perched on an enormous rock and is spreading its wings. Tree branches cover the eagle’s portrait, and the United States of America is written around the coin rim.

1795 Silver Dollar Grading

The coin grading of the 1795 silver dollars is typically done using the Sheldon scale, which starts from one and ends at seventy. The higher a coin is on the scale, the higher its value.

While the grades below 50 sell for four to five figures, the coins above grade 60 can cross $100,000. Here’s a video showing how well the coin can be appreciated when in pristine condition and what you should look for when grading the coin.

Rare 1795 Silver Dollar Errors

The coin was minted in the early years when the minting process was not refined as it’s nowadays. Many coins from that period have particular imperfections and errors which can further improve their value. Let’s read about a few reported errors.

1795 Silver Dollar Off-Center Error

The off-center error is an all-time popular error still found in coins minted today. During the early years of coin minting, less attention was paid during production, which resulted in errors like these.

When a die strikes the coin at an off angle, the struck image is not centered. The imprint will shift from the center either to the right or left, creating an imperfect imprint. The more the coin is off-center, the higher the coin’s value will be.

1795 Silver Dollar Double Edge Lettering Error

The die is struck multiple times to imprint the letters during lettering. However, when the strikes are made at a slightly different angle, it creates two lettering outlines.

1795 Silver Dollar Off-center on 96 Gram Copper Planchet Error

This error occurred when the copper planchet was used accidentally instead of the silver dollar planchet. The error is very rare, as the coins minted at the time had a silvery appearance, but this error caused the coin to have a rusty copper coin appearance.

1795 Silver Dollar FAQs

What’s the value of a 1795 silver dollar?

The 1795 silver dollar is one of the most expensive coins and sells for $2000 to $40,000 for circulated coins. The coins in pristine condition are valued above $100,000.

How to tell if a 1795 silver dollar is real?

Due to the coin’s massive value and popularity, it’s evident that several fakes are sold for lower prices. The primary method you can use to test for the coin’s authenticity is by using a magnet.

If the coin is attracted to the magnet, it’s probably a fake, whereas if it doesn’t stick to the magnet, the coin might be real. You can also measure the weight of the coin, which should be around 2.7 grams.

However, these methods don’t guarantee whether the silver dollar you are looking at is real or fake. A professional coin grader should do an evaluation of the coin details to know whether the coin is real or fake.

Why were the two and three-leaf designs introduced?

The design was changed from two to three leaves only to make the branches look more lively. The design authorities made these changes on the silver dollar.

How many 1795 silver dollars exist?

It’s estimated that the Philadelphia Mint produced more than 160,000 coins, out of which, only a few thousand are known to exist. Around 4000 coins are already reported and present in several collections.

Finding a flowing hair or draped bust silver dollar is rare and unlikely. While 160,000 flowing hair silver dollars were minted, only 42,738 draped bust silver dollars were minted, making them rare. Although the draped bust was minted in the following years, the original draped bust of 1795 is always a rare find.

How to tell if a silver dollar is rare?

Start by looking at the year the coin was minted. The years associated with popular events, commemorative coins, and pieces that were minted in limited quantities are always rare. The silver dollars starting from 1794 to almost the 1900s, are rare finds and vary in value.

The condition of the silver dollar also determines its rarity. For example, a 1795 silver dollar in circulated condition sells for a few thousand dollars, whereas uncirculated coins in mint condition are worth millions.

What are fake silver dollars made of?

Most fake silver dollars don’t contain a silver core and are made from other non-ferrous metals. Although the dimensions and appearance are kept the same, the weight of the silver dollar doesn’t match because a different metal is used.

However, higher-grade counterfeits are difficult to spot and need a professional coin-grading service to authenticate the specimen. Grading these expensive coins by yourself is never an effective move.

Is the Flowing hair or the draped bust 1795 silver dollar expensive?

The flowing hair 1795 silver dollar is more expensive than the draped bust silver dollar as the coin was minted in limited quantities and was replaced later on by the draped bust silver dollar with changes to the design. Nearly 2000 coins were minted in total and most coins were melted to extract silver.

A pristine quality 1975 flowing hair specimen was sold at an auction in 2013 for $10 million.