Q. David Bowers
PII Portrait: "Head of 1795." The Head of 1795 portrait was made from a new master punch with the cheek of Miss Liberty in shallower relief than the preceding, and the jaw line not prominent. There is a double line, sort of a flattened loop, under the center and left side of the bust truncation. The bust point is sharp. At the back of the head, the highest curl is thick. It is not known who made the master hub for the Class II obverse, but John Smith Gardner may be a candidate.
Distribution of varieties:
Varieties with PI Portrait (Head of 1794, no line under truncation):
Obverse Die No. PI-1: Used to strike 1795 BB-11, BB-12, and BB-13.
Obverse Die No. PI-2: Used to strike 1795 BB-14 (although BB-14 is of the PI style, the bust point is less rounded than on the other dies).
Obverse Die No. PI-3: Used to strike 1795 BB-16, BB-17, and BB-18 (on this, the highest curl at the back of the head is slightly thicker than usually seen on PI, but thinner than usually seen on PII).
Varieties with PII Portrait (Head of 1795, line under truncation): This obverse portrait hub was used to create the majority of 1795 obverse dies as follows:
Obverse Die No. PII-1: Used to strike 1795 BB-15.
Obverse Die No. PII-2: Used to strike 1795 BB-19 and BB- 20.
Obverse Die No. PII-3: Used to strike 1795 BB-21, BB-22, and BB-23.
Obverse Die No. PII-4: Used to strike 1795 BB-24, and, in original and relapped states, to strike 1795 BB-25.
Obverse Die No. PII-5: Used to strike 1795 BB-26
Obverse Die No. PII-6: Used to strike 1795 BB-27.
Classifying 1795 Dollar Reverse Die Styles
(used with Flowing Hair type)
EI Eagle: The EI and EII eagle punches are somewhat similar to that used in 1794, but are not the same. The EI has six feathers in the eagle's tail (EII has five). On EI the leftmost claw (from the observer's viewpoint) is at the top edge of the rock (on EII it is in from the edge). There are some slight differences in the feather details; see under the eagle's right or dexter (to observer's left) wing, for example. Both the EI and Ell punches seem to be from the same engraver's hand.
EII Eagle: Five feathers in eagle's tail; leftmost claw is not on the edge of the rock.
WI Wreath, 2 Leaves Under Each Wing: The WI wreaths, of which there are several variations (as finishing work was done by hand) are stylistically similar to that used in 1794 (but are not from the motif punch used in 1794, if indeed a motif punch was used for the reverse then), and are quite different from WII (described below). Perhaps, the 1794 wreath and 1795 WI were the work of Robert Scot, and 1795 WII was from the hand of John Gardner, although I believe that insufficient evidence is on hand to make such attributions.
WI wreaths have two leaves beneath each wing-a quick guide to identification (WII wreaths have three leaves). On the WI wreaths, the two branches to the wreath are thinner, and the leaves are smaller and less finely detailed. On the eagle's right (observer's left) wing there are two leaves at the point at which the branch crosses it. On the inside of the wreath at the top, below the single leaves at the apex, are found pairs of leaves, one on each side, drooping downward. Where the wreath branches join at the bottom, the ribbon has a knot (unlike 1794, which lacks this feature). The engraver's work on the reverse dies with WI wreath was probably accomplished in this order:
1. The eagle motif was punched into the steel blank.
2. The wreath motif was punched into the die.
3.Wreath details were added and/or strengthened, the wreath apex was completed, leaves were punched into the right side of the die (left side of the coin) where the wreath is above the eagle's wing, berries and
their stems were added, the branch ends were added, and the lettering UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was added around the border.
WII Wreath, 3 Leaves Under Each Wing: The two known dies using WII wreaths are each quite different from the preceding WI varieties. There are three leaves beneath each wing, which is the least important consideration from a style viewpoint. The leaves are larger than on the WI wreaths, are more finely detailed, and have raised edges or outlines; overall, the wreath is more sturdy. On the eagle's dexter (observer's left) wing there are more than two leaves at the point at which the branch crosses it. The inside pairs of leaves at the top are larger and not as "droopy" as on the preceding. Where the wreath branches join at the bottom there is no knot; the junction is wrapped with a ribbon (as in 1794).
Both known WII wreath dies were made from the same wreath punch, which did-not include the topmost part of the wreath (which was added by hand), The engraver's work on the reverse dies with WII wreath was accomplished in this order: