Auction Name: 2026 January 8 US Coins Signature Auction - FUN Special Sessions: Ellsworth & Jacobson

Lot Number: 2026

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1389*2026

1794 1C S-21 R3 Head of 1794, Flat Pole, AU50 PCGS. CAC Approved. Frosty light to medium brown and chocolate. The planchet is smooth except for a few thin planchet fissures: a short one through the cap, a longer parallel one from the dentils left of the lower curls along the truncation to the dentils below the bust tip, and a short but deeper one just right of the F in OF (all as made). There are areas of die "spalling" on the reverse, mostly around the wreath where there is obvious roughness from die deterioration. The only notable contact marks are a scratch under NT in CENT and a small dig on a leaf left of that C. M-LDS, Breen state IV, Heck state 4, with several die cracks on the obverse. Graded AU50 and tied for CC#3 in the Noyes census, his photo #20112. Bland says EF45 and tied for CC#11. This cataloger's EAC grade is EF45. A sharp, attractive cent that comes with a nice provenance that has remained unbroken for nearly 100 years. The attribution and COL Ellsworth Collection provenance are noted on the PCGS Gold Shield label (35528.50/15022347).
Ex Dr. George P. French 3/21/1929-B. Max Mehl 1929 Fixed Price List, lot 24 (UNC, $150)-T. James Clarke 1944-R. E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr., Abe Kosoff Fixed Price List 11/1954 ($250)-Gene Wallace-Abe Kosoff-Rare Coin Company of America 5/11/1974:800 (AU, $650)-Gordon J. Wrubel-Dr. C. R. Chambers-Douglas F. Bird-Gary M. Ruttenberg, McCawley & Grellman Auctions 8/17/1996:73 ($4840)-COL Steven K. Ellsworth.

The 1929 fixed price list of the George P. French Collection of Large Cents, issued by B. Max Mehl, represented the dispersal of what was widely recognized as the finest and most complete collection of its kind. French's cabinet, built over fifty years, included more than 800 different specimens, many of them unique varieties or the finest known examples. The catalog began with the foundational 1793 issues-Chain, Wreath, and Liberty Cap cents-described in extraordinary detail. Multiple varieties were listed as "finest known" or "prooflike," including superbly preserved pieces with traces of original red. Among these was an uncirculated Chain cent with mint red highlights, a Wreath cent called "one of the first struck," and several rare Liberty Cap die marriages, including the elusive Crosby 14-K. The 1794 section was unparalleled, offering the most complete set then known, with dozens of Hays varieties, several unique or nearly unique, and many coins singled out as the best examples in existence.

The collection continued with a comprehensive run of 1795 and 1796 Liberty Caps and Draped Bust cents, including celebrated rarities like the 1796 LIHERTY error and multiple uncirculated examples of varieties seldom seen in any grade. Mehl emphasized French's practice of buying regardless of price to secure quality, a strategy that resulted in dozens of coins noted as "finest known" or "unique." Later early dates, from 1797 through the 1800s, were similarly strong, including rare overdates, scarce die states, and pedigreed pieces from past landmark sales. Mehl himself remarked in the preface that no collection as a whole compared to French's achievement, calling it the collection of cents. With its focus on completeness, die variety rarity, and preservation, the French Collection catalog remains a landmark reference in early American copper numismatics.

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