Historic 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar Regraded

Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) Grading has graded a 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar as Mint State (MS)-67. The owner had recently submitted the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar to CAC. The company then reexamined, certified, and encapsulated the coin. The specimen is now the finest-known example.

In 2010 Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) graded the dollar MS-66+, and it received a CAC sticker of approval. “I’ve been kicking myself ever since it received only a green CAC approval sticker rather than a gold sticker,” said CAC Grading CEO and Cofounder John Albanese. “I can certainly understand an eight-figure valuation in this market.”

According to U.S. Mint records, Chief Coiner Henry Voight delivered the entire mintage of 1794 silver dollars (1,758 specimens) to Mint Director David Rittenhouse on October 15, 1794. Fewer than 150 examples are known today, with only a few in mint state. Dealer Jay Parrino purchased this specimen “raw” Gem Uncirculated at a Stack’s Bowers auction in 1995 for $577,500. The next year, he and his partner, Mike Phillips, sold it to Chris Napolitano for his client. Napolitano said his customer “was certainly happy about the results…It validated what he thought about the dollar over all these years.”  Now, the anonymous owner has insured the specimen for $15 million. The 1794 dollar’s pedigree reaches back to the 1920s, with famous collector Col. E.H.R. Green and mid-century legendary type set collector Lelan Rogers as past owners.

The coin may make its first public appearance in 2025 after 30 years. “We know there’s a whole generation of numismatists who have never had the opportunity to view the coin,” said Napolitano. “We don’t have any specific dates or venues to announce at this time, but we will discuss the possibility of displaying the coin in the future.”

 A version of this article appears in the March 2025 issue of The Numismatist (money.org).