Draped Bust (1795-1804) - Small Eagle (1795-1798) The Draped Bust Dollar was produced by the Philadelphia Mint from 1795 until 1804, replacing the elusive Flowing Hair type. The initial version features the same smaller eagle that appeared on the earlier dollars, but many felt this wasn’t a strong depiction of the bird and the reverse was changed just a few years later. The coin was designed by Robert Scot and weighed 29.96 grams. They were produced on planchets with a composition of .8924 silver and .1076 copper. The Small Eagle variety was short-lived and was only produced for three year before the reverse design was upgraded to feature the Heraldic Eagle. The issue was not produced in huge quantities with just over 450,000 struck across all three years. The result is an elusive variety with present examples usually the pride of any dollar enthusiast’s collection.
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