HERITAGE OFFERS F.U.N. FIRST LOOK AT RASMUSSEN LARGE CENTS

Dallas, TX: Collectors attending the upcoming Florida United Numismatists convention will get a sneak preview of the Wes Rasmussen Large Cent collection. The collection will be offered for sale at the 2005 F.U.N. convention, but some highlights will be exhibited for the first time at the 2004 show by Heritage Numismatic Auctions of Dallas, Texas www.HeritageCoin.com.

Rasmussen is a former President of Early American Coppers, a prominent collector's group devoted to research and the collecting of United States copper coins of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

"It is an absolutely incredible Large Cent collection, complete by die marriage from 1793 to 1839, excluding only Sheldon-79 and some of the non-collectible varieties. We'll have a showcase of about three dozen spectacular pieces for a three-day sneak preview, Thursday through Saturday, at the upcoming F.U.N. convention," said Gregory Rohan, Heritage President.

Included in the January 8 - 10 display will be the condition census 1799/8 NC-1 overdate, the finest of the eight known specimens. It is the plate coin in Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of United States Large Cents, and its impressive pedigree includes the famous early American copper collections of Robinson S. Brown Jr., R.E. Naftzger Jr., Dr. William H. Sheldon and Frederic W. Geiss.

Other coins in the display include an 1800/798 S-190 overdate in MS-64 and an 1834 N-7 in MS-65 grade.

Additional previews of the Rasmussen Collection will be held by Heritage at the Central States Numismatic Association convention in Milwaukee in May, the American Numismatic Association convention in Pittsburgh in August, and the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo in September.