Draped Bust half dollars with Small Eagle reverse, first minted in 1795, are readily available today as a type. Within the span of coinage, several rare varieties occur, the most famous of which is the 1797 with nine stars to the left of the obverse and seven on the right, and with small letters on the reverse. I have handled only a few of these over the years, and I consider the variety to be extremely undervalued.

The most often seen early dollars are those of the Draped Bust obverse, Heraldic Eagle reverse style, minted 1798-1803, particularly dollars bearing the dates 1798 and 1799. Several hundred dollars will buy an attractive example in one of the lower circulated grades.

The 1804 silver dollar is arguably the most famous United States coin rarity, although some might say that the 1913 Liberty Head nickel edges it out. Unquestionably, a couple generations ago, when Texas dealer B. Max Mehl focused many advertising campaigns around the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, it was king, but in recent times more publicity has been given to the 1804 dollar. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many columns of print were devoted to this coin in the pages of The Numismatist, the American Journal of Numismatics, and other publications of the day. In 1962 a book was written about it, The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, by Eric P. Newman and Kenneth E. Bressett. Some 15 dollars dated 1804 are known, divided into three styles, sometimes designated as classes I, II, and III.

While a detailed history of the 1804 dollar could and has occupied a book, as noted, suffice it to say here that Mint reports stated that 19,570 silver dollars were coined in 1804. However, it is virtually certain that none of these pieces was dated 1804 but, rather, represented coinage accomplished in 1804 from earlier-dated dies. In the 1830s Mint officials desired to put together presentation sets illustrating the various United States coin denominations. Checking the official records, and not having great numismatic knowledge, those in charge at the Mint concluded that United States silver dollars were last coined in 1804, and were presumably dated 1804. As no dollars were being minted or were authorized to be minted in the 1830s, to fill out the presentation sets they decided to produce some additional copies of the last official issue - which they presumed had been dated 1804. Searching in the die vaults, no 1804-dated dies were found, thus the Mint simply created some, undoubtedly with no intent to deceive. The largest gold coin denomination, the $10 piece, likewise had not been minted since 1804; no 1804-dated $10 dies could be found on hand, thus new ones were made up as well. In 1834 the Mint created presentation Proof sets containing one of each denomination currently being minted, from the half cent through the half dollar, plus the $2.50 and $5, plus back-dated 1804 $1 and $10 pieces, for the latter two denominations were not currently being struck. The King of Siam set earlier mentioned was such a presentation group and was given as a gift to the ruler of that land.