Auction Name: 2026 January 14 - 17 FUN US Coins Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 3030

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1390*3030

1793 1C Chain, AMERI., S-1, B-1, R.4, AU55 PCGS. Breen's Die State III or IV. The obverse has clash marks from the chain below the bust truncation and the reverse has a die bulge over the U in UNITED. Breen called for light clash marks on his State III coins and heavier clash marks for State IV. Later die states have a crack through the tops of TATE and eventually a die break on the top of those letters, but neither feature is evident on this example.

The Chain AMERI. cents were struck during the last days of February 1793, and they were the first circulation-strike coins produced at the Philadelphia Mint. The copper half cents and large cents were the only coins struck that year and well into 1794 before Chief Coiner Henry Voigt and Assayer Albion Cox were permitted to handle silver and eventually gold.

Mint records show the first delivery (from the Chief Coiner to the Mint Treasurer) of cents was dated March 1, 1793, totaling 11,178 coins, nearly one-third of the 36,103 Chain cents that were struck from five die pairs. Since all five varieties are die linked, we know from die state observations that the Chain AMERI. cents were produced first.

This attractive example is well produced with a bold chain on the reverse. The high points of the obverse are bluntly defined as nearly always on the Chain AMERI. cents. Scattered marks are evident on the steel-brown surfaces as expected for the grade, and minor rim bruises are primarily confined to the reverse. Identifying pedigree markers include a trivial hairline that arcs down from the obverse at 9:30, as well as minor rim bruises over TE of STATES and near the O in OF. The die bulge over the U in UNITED might be mistaken for a rim nick. Population: 7 in 55, 6 finer (11/25).
Ex: John L. Roper, 2nd (Stack's, 12/1983), lot 442; Auction '88 (Superior, 7/1988), lot 15; Stack's (1/2007), lot 5436; Anthony Terranova; Walter Husak; Paul Gerrie (Goldberg Auctions, 2/2013), lot 1; Chris Victor-McCawley; ESM Collection (Stack's Bowers, 8/2020), lot 1001.

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