Since I collect the Mexican Republic version of these coins I enjoy the history associated with them. (Might as well enjoy it, collecting the series is kind of like golf, designed to frustrate you, since there are about 1100 examples, many of them quite rare, but I like a challenge)

Many people do not realize that the first official coins of the then rebel United States were Spanish, mostly Mexican, 8 reales, the coin from which we got our silver dollars. From 1775 until 1792 there was no "official" US coinage and the main specie used was Spanish Dollars. Indeed the 8 reales were officially legal tender in the US until the Coinage Act of 1857. When the US finally got around to minting silver dollars in 1794, they and the ones to follow did not contain as much silver as the 8 reales, so the 8 reales was preferred in trade.

8 reales were also the legal tender of the Confederacy and many payments to Confederate soldiers were in 8 reales. There is a well documented story of Gen Johnson's troops being dispersed at the end of the war with, I believe, from memory, a mustering out pay of 8 "Mexican" Dollars.

The 8 reales, Mexican Dollar, was commonly used as currency in the South until well into the 20th century.

One of the more interesting tales is of the missing Danville, Virginia treasure. Supposedly 39 kegs of 8 reales were paid for Southern cotton, as the South was falling, the 9000 odd pounds of silver were buried in the Danville area to prevent them falling into Union hands. True or not, supposedly there have been strong indications of silver "deposits" in some of the City of Danville's cemeteries.

Ah to have some of those early US dollars though.....

All it takes is money, they are readily available.

Too much money for me I'm afraid Still they are very appealing to me.

I always liked the 94s too but, like a dumbass, didn't buy them when they were cheaper. I passed on some very nice examples in the $4-7000 range. OTOH, the coins I bought went up many times more than those coins BECAUSE, as I have said, the 1794 coins I was passing on were decent middle of the road examples and the coins (branch mint gold primarily) I was buying were premium examples. Not to re-visit my old "lectures" on coins, but it is WAAAY better financially to buy one or two top quality rare coins than a dozen or two decent examples for the same money. Because of the continuing screwing around with coins to get a better plastic grade, it is harder and harder to buy un-fucked with coins these days, especially US coins. But it is not limited to US coins, not too long ago, I passed on bidding on a very rare 8 escudos from Argentina because I figured out that it was a tooled example, and had lost (been removed) nearly 20% of it's weight in order to make it more sellable (appearance). This was in a German auction and the coin was previously sold (unaltered) in the US. It did sell, and the buyer over there paid way too much for what is a forevermore damaged/destroyed coin.

I'm not much of an investor but find that early US coins are much more attractive than ones of more recent vintage. I think the Mercury dime was the last really attractive US coin. The artwork on the Standing Liberty coins is my favorite. And I agree with your point, why bother with beat-up worn specimens when better grade ones are available.