Condition Census 1802 C-1 Old Reverse Half Cent

1802/0 1/2 C Reverse of 1800. C-1, B-1, R.6. Die State 1--Environmental Damage--NCS. VF Details. Fine 15 EAC. Overdate; Single terminal leaves. Jules Reiver recorded this coin in his notes as the Gilbert Plate Coin and the Discovery coin for the variety, although we are not able to verify either claim. The reverse is plated in the Breen Half Cent Encyclopedia, but the obverse plate is from a different coin. Also illustrated in the last three editions of Wayte Raymond's Standard Catalog. It is the Manley Plate Coin for Die State 1. The next lot is an example of 1802 C-2, the New Reverse, also plated in Manley as Die State 1 of the C-2 die combination, and clearly struck before this coin. Although 1802 C-1, B-1 is described first by both Cohen and Breen, on the strength of its shared reverse with 1800, the earlier presentation by Ebenezer Gilbert in The United States Half Cents, published in 1916, had the varieties in their proper emission sequence, with this Reverse of 1800 assigned his number 2. Gilbert did not actually attempt an emission sequence presentation, although in the case of 1802, he had a 50% chance of being correct.
The number of known examples is most likely in the vicinity of 20 coins. Despite its low grade and rough physical appearance, this example is solidly in the Condition Census, and apparently second or third finest known. It was the second listed coin in Walter Breen's Condition Census. This past summer, Bill Noyes issued his Penny Prices, including data for half cents. He recorded two VF20, two Fine 15, and six VG10 examples as the 10 best pieces. This is probably one of his VG10 coins, but the only true test of Condition Census for these coins is physical, in-the-copper comparison. Even then, different observers will have different opinions. Most will agree that the Norweb Collection specimen is the finest known.
From the first die state described by Manley, and as stated earlier, the plate coin for that die state. The obverse die has been lapped or reground, and now the bottom hair curl is only partially visible, missing the right portion. A small rust pit is visible in the upper loop of the digit 8, and another between I and B. Reverse die rust joins E of UNITED to the wreath, and the lower inside leaf pair on the left to top of the C in CENT. This is the earliest known die state of this variety, but is in a later die state than the earliest states of 1802 C-2. The emission sequence, based on Manley Die States, appears to be 1802 C-2, states 1, 2, 3; 1802 C-1, states 1, 2; and finally 1802 C-2 states 4, 5. There is a question of mintage for this date, with most students now accepting a figure of 20,266 coins as the total for both varieties. This is the total of deliveries dated August 1802 (8,200), November 1802 (6,166), and August 1803 (5,900). As the 1802 New Reverse survivors outnumber the Old Reverse survivors by about 20 to 1, it could be argued that the mintage of this 1802 C-1 variety was only about 1,000 coins. Such a statement could be, and probably should be, debated by different students of the series.
The Reiver Collection coin has dark steel-brown surfaces with lighter color on the devices. The surfaces are covered with microscopic granularity. It is well-centered, with partial obverse and reverse border dentilation around most of the obverse except from 2 o'clock to 4 o'clock, and at the top of the reverse. A few small marks are present in the fields, near Liberty's chin on the obverse and above HALF on the reverse. The right obverse and reverse borders have noticeable surface disturbance. Still and all, this is a highly presentable example and an extremely important offering for the advanced enthusiast.
Some specialists may consider this to be the single most important Half Cent in the Reiver Collection. Half a century ago, John Ford discussed this specimen in the 44th catalog of New Netherlands Coin Company: "Defective at the lower right side of the obverse, and seriously so at the corresponding part of the reverse rim (from over a hardly visible F in OF to over AMER). Poorly struck on a flan composed of decidedly inferior metal, but also mishandled, the most obvious imperfection a small reverse scratch at the far right side. Dark brown and steel. Illustrated in the Standard Catalog, and one of the two finest of the six known [at that time] in collectors' hands. This, the discovery coin, may even be the finest extant, as we have not seen the Ruby specimen obtained from dealer Foster. Sold to Mr. Ryder at Henry Chapman's sale of the W.B. Guy coll., Nov. 3, 1911, lot 915. An extremely rare and valuable item, well worthy of a generous bid, as any increased interest by 'type' collectors will upset the present modest basal value." Today, in 2006, it is known that this example is clearly finer than the Ruby Collection coin, which later appeared in the January 1989 sale of the Jack Robinson Collection.
Ex: W.B. Guy (Henry Chapman, 11/1911), lot 915; Hillyer Ryder (New Netherlands, 6/1954), lot 282; Harold Bareford; William Bareford (5/25/1984). Envelope Included.(Registry values: P7) (#1054)

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