1793 1/2 C MS64 Brown PCGS....

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Condition Census 1793 Liberty Cap
Half Cent, C-4, MS64 Brown
Historic First-Year Copper Issue

1793 1/2 C MS64 Brown PCGS. C-4, B-4, R.3. Die State III. The half cents of 1793 were modeled on the famous Libertas Americana medals, struck at the Paris Mint in 1783. The design was suggested by Benjamin Franklin as a commemoration of American liberty, of course, and the dies were modeled by Augustin Dupré. On those medals, a flowing hair portrait of a young woman faces to the left, with her hair finely engraved and flowing out behind her. A pole behind supports a cap symbolizing liberty, a symbol whose origins date to antiquity.
Although President Washington and, more directly, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson were involved in a search for talented European engravers including the Swiss artist Pierre Droz, the effort was fruitless. A talented New Jersey native, Joseph Wright, was engaged for the post of Mint engraver, but Wright sadly died of yellow fever within a few months. Wright is believed to have modeled the obverse for the 1793 Liberty Cap half cents before he died, however, and he is also believed to have modeled a device punch for the 1793 Liberty Cap cents. (Breen's Complete Encyclopedia attributes the obverse of the Liberty Cap half cents to Adam Eckfeldt, working from sketches by David Rittenhouse, but most others attribute them to Wright.) The reverse for the half cents is believed to have been developed by Henry Voigt.
Because of the onerous requirement that the assayer, chief coiner, and treasurer each post a $10,000 surety bond before gold or silver deposits could be accepted for coinage, only copper coins were produced in 1793, in the form of cents and half cents. The half cents were manufactured only from July 20 to Sept. 18, 1793, to the extent of 35,334 pieces, and today the average survivor among the several hundred known is typically well worn.
This near-Gem survivor is a historic and high-grade example of those first half cents. The Cohen-4 is the most frequently encountered of the four 1793 half cent varieties. It is distinguished by the relatively straight cap of Liberty, short 7 in the date, and the longest stems on the lower reverse. Most of the mintage of 3,400 pieces delivered on Sept. 18 are thought to be from this die state. Walter Breen believed that many of this variety were saved as souvenirs of the first year of issue and the first design of the denomination. The Condition Census would seem to bear that out, as there are a number of high grade examples known.
This is a particularly well-defined coin that shows finely detailed hair on Liberty. The leaves on the reverse are not all completely brought up, but several display full venation. The surfaces are unusually bright and glossy, with only the slightest area of planchet flaking evident on the right side of the reverse. A very shallow scratch is seen from the center of the obverse to the right rim near 3 o'clock. The diagnostic rust marks are evident in the left obverse field, but they of course have no effect on the coin's grade as all C-4 coins exhibit them to one degree or another. One of the finest 1793 half cents certified by any third-party service: the finest at NGC is a single AU58, while at PCGS this MS64 Brown piece is one of four so certified, with three finer (3/09). EAC 60.
Ex: FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2005), lot 30088.
From The Joseph C. Thomas Collection.(Registry values: P8)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 2222, PCGS# 1000, GSID# 429)

Metal: 100% Copper
Weight: 6.74 grams
Weight: 0.23775oz
Mintage: 35,334

View all of [The Joseph C. Thomas Collection, Part Two ]

View Certification Details from PCGS