1826 B-1, C-1, R.1, MS65 Brown PCGS. CAC. Our EAC Grade MS63....

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1826 B-1, C-1 Half Cent, MS65 Brown
Intermediate Die State

1826 B-1, C-1, R.1, MS65 Brown PCGS. CAC. Our EAC Grade MS63. Equivalents. Proskey 1: 1-A; Ross 1-A; Gilbert-1; Empire-68; Cohen-1; Breen-1; Bowers-Whitman 1; Eckberg 1-A.
Rarity. R.1. This is the usual 1826 half cent encountered with a survival estimate in the range of 3,500 to 4,500 coins per the Bowers-Whitman Guide Book. Eckberg estimates 3,700 examples or 95% of all 1826 half cents.

Obverse 1 appears on Breen-1. The date is closely spaced with a wider space between the 1 and 8. Die file marks right of the date fade in later die states. The top two points of Star 7 are recut, and the northeast point of Star 10 is slightly recut. Most stars on the right nearly touch the border.

Reverse A appears on Breen-1. The highest leaf point extends well past the final S, and that position is diagnostic for 1826. An extra top serif of an uncertain letter is between the tops of the E and D. The top of the O in OF is doubled. The M, E, and R in AMERICA are also repunched.
Edge. Plain.
Surfaces. Fully lustrous and frosty chocolate-brown surfaces host areas of brilliant blue toning on each side. The surfaces are virtually flawless.
Die State. Manley Die State 2.0. An early intermediate die state with the obverse cracked through star 1 to the bust tip.

Appearances. Illustrated at the PCGS Set Registry record of the McGuigan Collection. Plated in William Doyle's catalog of the Lauder Collection.
PCGS Population (5/2022). The 10 finest 1826 half cent submissions at PCGS include eight coins graded MS65 Brown and two certified as MS66 Brown. This coin and two other MS65 Brown pieces are attributed as C-1, as are both MS66 Brown examples.
Commentary. This is the usually encountered 1826 half cent variety and it is this die pair that is normally included in date sets. However, examples are rarely encountered in top grades such as this piece. The Missouri Cabinet coin and the Pogue coin, each graded PCGS graded MS66 Brown, are tied for the finest certified, and likely the finest known. Jim McGuigan previously owned the Pogue coin, and preferred this example that he kept for his own collection.

Collectors have long debated exactly what the die file marks right of the date are hiding. The obvious candidates are a stray 6 or an extra star. However, Ronald Manley proposed in The Half Cent Die State Book that the extra character was the remnant of a stray A punch from the reverse lettering, writing: "My unusual and, no doubt, surprising conclusion is based upon what appear to me to be remnants of both feet of the A. In addition, the direction of the crisscross die file lines are parallel to the left and right sides of the letter A."
McGuigan Commentary. Superb lustrous iridescent bluish-brown toning. Intermediate die state (M2.0) with a die break from the rim through the lowest two points of the first star to the bust tip.
Provenance. Ex: Loye L. Lauder (William Doyle Galleries, 12/1983), lot 276.
Personality. Loye L. Lauder resided in Greenwich, Connecticut. William Doyle Galleries handled the auction of her collection in December 1983. She was described in the auction catalog as "an enthusiastic and truly 'amateur' collector in the classic sense of one who pursues an interest out of love for the subject matter." The cataloger continued: "In only eight years she nearly accomplished her goal of obtaining an example of every Colonial and early U.S. copper coin listed in the Red Book. Had she not died at age 53 she would surely have gone on to complete the collection." The daughter of Charles and Blanch Lark, she was born at Hackensack, New Jersey on June 3, 1911, and died of a heart attack at Greenwich, Connecticut on September 28, 1964. Her father was a prominent estate attorney who once counted Samuel Clemens among his clients. Following her schooling in Hackensack, Loye attended Columbia University. On November 22, 1941, she married Willis Laytham, president of the Laytham Foundry of Paterson, New Jersey. After his death on November 12, 1956, she assumed the position of foundry president. Following the death of her first husband, Loye married George Lauder in August 1957. Her obituary published in The Record of Hackensack notes that she was a hard-working industrial executive.
From The James R. McGuigan Half Cent Collection.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 222U, Variety PCGS# 35252, Base PCGS# 1144, Greysheet# 80913)

Weight: 5.44 grams

Metal: 100% Copper

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