Choice AU 1794 S-25 Cent

1794 1C Head of '94. AU58 PCGS. S-25, B-15, R.3. Bland AU55; CC-2. Noyes AU55; CC-2. Photo #22717. Our EAC Grade AU55.

Equivalents. Maris 16 (Separated Date); Frossard 10.2; Doughty 36; Hays 22; McGirk 7-C; Ross 14-O; Chapman 17; EAC 10; Encyclopedia 1658; PCGS #901374.

Variety. Date has 7 and 9 widely spaced, 9 and 4 lean left. N's in ONE CENT are both repunched above diagonal. The obverse appears on S-25, S-26, NC-8, and NC-11. The reverse appears on S-25. Lettered Edge, leaf points up.

Surfaces. Spectacular, pristine dark olive surfaces accompany sharp design details on this cent, second finest known of the variety. Bill Noyes assigns the Choice designation to the surfaces of this beauty.

Die State II. This is an early die state with single clash marks on each side, by the face, neck, and through the hair curls on the obverse, and within the wreath and center of the reverse.

Appearances. The obverse and reverse are illustrated in Elder-Gilbert, Chapman, Early American Cents, Penny Whimsy, and in Noyes (2006). The Breen plate coin is identified as this specimen, but is actually the finest known MS60 coin.

Census. A single Mint State piece is followed by this coin and one other AU example in Bland's Census. Noyes considers this coin second finest, with third place graded XF40. Bland and Noyes agree that the top 10 examples of the variety include coins graded just VF25.

Commentary. Although offered for sale through the Bowers and Ruddy fixed price list of the Adams Collection, this piece has not been offered for sale at auction in more than 60 years. Provenanced to the Henry Miller and Howard Newcomb collections, and specifically identified by Sheldon in Early American Cents as the most famous example of the variety: "I have seen only four in near Mint condition. Of these perhaps the most famous is the Newcomb specimen, MS-60, pictured in Chapman, and sold at $200 in the Newcomb sale." Sheldon lowered the grade of this coin to AU55 in Penny Whimsy.

Among the improvements James Davy recommended was a larger roller to eliminate some of the waste that currently existed. Once planchets were cut from copper strip, the extra metal had to be remelted.

"Not having had an opportunity of seeing the works for casting the copper with the strips, or ingots which is the first stage it passes through after it is received from the smelter (here the principal objects to be attended to are that the metal receives a proper heat, and that the strips, or ingots are free from holes, when cut) I shall proceed with observations on the rolling mills now in use at the Mint, and here the power is insufficient and expensive, some parts of the machinery as it is-is imperfect, and an improper method of performing the work is adopted.

"The metal is now rolled in strips not wide enough for more than two rows of cents. If it be sufficiently wide for four, or five, which a press for cutting them out will admit of, it will be a saving both in the time and labor of rolling a given quantity, for the widest strip will pass as quick through the rollers (if the power be proportioned) as the narrowest and require no more manual labor to perform it, and a considerable less quantity of cuttings, or shruff metal (which at a considerable expense and loss requires to be cast and rolled over again) will be made by using the metal wide rather than narrow. (This advantage arises from the blanks being cut out in rows between each other. The diameter of each cent is 1 inch and 1/8. Consequently if placed in regular rows opposite each other two rows would cover a surface exactly 4 inches and ½ but by being placed in rows between each other 4 inches is wide enough.)"

Provenance. Henry C. Miller (Thomas Elder, 4/1917), lot 674, $105; Howard R. Newcomb (J.C. Morgenthau, 2/1945), lot 39, $200; Charles H. Deetz (Stack's, 11/1946), lot 1734, $180; Judge Thomas L. Gaskill (New Netherlands, privately 11/1956); Dorothy Paschal; John W. Adams (Bowers and Ruddy, 1982 FPL), lot 17, $6,000; Del Bland (10/1984); Dr. Allen Bennett (1/1998).

Personality. Judge Thomas L. Gaskill, who served on the New Jersey District Court, sold his extensive large cent collection to Dorothy Paschal in 1956. The pieces later appeared in the 50th and 51st sales held by New Netherlands; the former sale, which also included selections from F.C.C. Boyd, is noted for its wide selection of Condition Census-worthy examples. (#35540)

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