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Coin and Paper Money Collecting/Draped-bust silver bullion

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Expert: - 11/17/2009


Question
Thank you for your time in answering this question.  I picked up a silver bullion round with the draped busted liberty head. The obverse has LIBERTY printed splitting 13 stars and Heraldic Eagle reverse. The eagle has "E PLURIBUS UNUM" banner across.  Above the eagle are again 13 stars and what appears to clouds over the stars. The reverse side says "One Troy Ounce 999 Fine silver." Most unusual is the DT marking splitting the eagles tail. It makes me wonder if this is some form of a Die trial, of the 1801-1807 draped busted liberty coin? I would greatly appreciate your insight, and thank you again for your time.

Answer

Silver bullion round
Hi Jared,
Bullion rounds such as this are modern pieces, created not for numismatic value but rather as investment pieces. The value depends on the silver markets, which are currently quite high at over $18 per ounce. When this piece was made, silver was most likely only worth half of that. There are many designs of these privately made pieces. Many include likenesses to US and other nation's coins, while some have a "fantasy" design.
I have attached a picture of a popular silver bullion round modeled after the Morgan dollar series.
Thanks for the question! =)

Dmitry Livshits

Expertise

My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

Experience

Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

Education/Credentials
A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

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