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

Lot Number: 3035

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1390*3035

1795 1C Plain Edge, S-76b, B-4b, R.1 -- Struck on a 5.43 gram Half Cent Planchet -- Fine 12 PCGS. When Walter Breen wrote the "Oops" chapter of his large cent encyclopedia, he explained: "The basic principle is that in each subroutine of every process a sample of copper goes through from ingot to strip to planchet, any malfunction produces a particular kind of anomaly. Similarly, this is the case with every process in die-making from the die blank to the working die in the press, and with the striking process where the finished die meets a finished planchet to produce a coin."

This 1795 large cent that is struck on a half cent planchet is categorized as a striking error since the wrong blank was fed into the coining chamber. When the Breen encyclopedia was compiled, only one example was identified: an 1807 cent struck on a half cent planchet that was examined during the 1990 EAC Convention.

The present coin is the first of its kind that we have handled aside from an undated Braided Hair cent struck on a half cent planchet. We find no similar examples in online archives of other firms.

While not perfectly centered on the half cent blank, enough of the obverse and reverse designs remain for positive identification of the S-76 die pair. The weight and lack of edge lettering indicates the S-76b sub-variety that was typically coined on plain edge cent planchets. The mostly smooth chestnut-brown surfaces exhibit moderate pitting at the right side of the obverse. Error collectors and those whose interest lies in the minting procedures from the early years of the Philadelphia Mint will have great interest in this important cent error.

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