1797 1 Above 1, Plain Edge, B-1c, C-1, R.2, MS64 Brown PCGS. CAC. Our EAC Grade MS60....

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1797 B-1c, C-1 Half Cent, MS64 Brown
Plated in Cohen, Breen, and Manley

1797 1 Above 1, Plain Edge, B-1c, C-1, R.2, MS64 Brown PCGS. CAC. Our EAC Grade MS60. Equivalents. Proskey 4: 3-B; Ross 2-B; Gilbert-4; Empire-24; Cohen-1; Breen-1c; Bowers Whitman-1; Eckberg 1-A.
Rarity. R.2. Breen rated this sub-variety as R.2 in 1983, when he listed three variations. Other authors record a single attribution number to the 1 Above 1-coins, although the Bowers-Whitman Guide Book gives populations of 400 to 600 thin planchet coins (B-1a) and 900 to 1,200 thick planchet coins (B-1b and 1c). Eckberg suggests a surviving population of 1,100 coins.
Obverse 1 is unique to Breen-1. Liberty's head is well centered on this die that has a complete 1 above the final position of that digit in the date. Traces of other digits are also visible on high grade coins. LIBERTY is high above the head and closer to the border. The letters are well spaced. The short, thick pole ends far from the border.
Reverse A appears on Breen-1 and 2. The left branch has 17 leaves and five berries. The right branch has 16 leaves and three berries. Paired berries are below the E in UNITED and the first T in STATES. One outside berry on the right is located below the M in AMERICA. The fraction is closely spaced with the fraction bar nearly joined to the denominator.
Edge. Plain.
Surfaces. Chocolate and olive-brown surfaces exhibit full cartwheel luster that is somewhat subdued. A bold strike is imperfectly centered with a narrow border at the right obverse. Hints of faded mint red are evident on the reverse of this Choice Mint State piece. Close examination reveals traces of undertype, such as the faint dentils in the field right of the date. Minuscule surface marks are visible, some remaining from the planchet before this piece was struck. Such marks were sometimes called "kegmarks" in old catalogs.
Die State. Manley Die State 1.0. This is the earliest die state known. Ronald Manley mentions a faint die crack from the border to the pole end on all Die State 1.0 pieces, although we see no evidence of that die crack on this example. A glass reveals faint clash marks at the junction of the cap and hair. Several raised die lumps are noted near the L in LIBERTY and elsewhere on the obverse.

Appearances. The obverse is plated in the second edition of Roger Cohen's American Half Cents, the "Little Half Sisters." This is the Breen plate coin on page 174 of his Half Cent Encyclopedia. Illustrated at the PCGS Set Registry record of the McGuigan Collection. This is Ronald Manley's primary illustration in The Half Cent Die State Book 1793-1857. Plated in the Showers fixed price list.
PCGS Population (3/2022). PCGS has certified 14 submissions of 1797 half cents in all Mint State grades, and just half of those grade MS64 or finer. Among the 1797 1 Above 1 half cents, the best grade MS64 Brown (the McGuigan coin), an unattributed MS64 Brown, another unattributed coin graded MS64+ Brown, an MS66 Brown, and an MS66 Red and Brown.

This variety illustrates the difficulty that PCGS has created since they only attribute coins if an additional fee is paid. There is only one 1797 1 Above 1 variety yet two different PCGS coin numbers are assigned in each color designation, meaning that the single variety has a total of six PCGS coin numbers. Coins that are submitted without the additional attribution fee are assigned coin numbers 1042, 1043, or 1044 for the three color designations. Those submitted with the attribution fee are assigned the numbers 35101, 35102, or 35103. Then the population data is separated in their population report depending on the payment of that additional attribution fee.
Commentary. Although this piece shows clear evidence of Talbot, Allum & Lee undertype, near the date and at the upper reverse, Breen chose to use this coin for the illustration of his Breen-1a sub-variety that is struck on "rolled copper" stock. It is also recorded as his variety 1a in the Breen-Hanson Condition Census that included six Uncirculated examples of B-1a and one Uncirculated B-1c.

The Breen-Hanson Condition Census was published nearly 40 years ago and many of the listings are impossible to track today. Uncirculated examples of B-1a and B-1c in that census include the Bushnell-Jackson coin that sold to Wayte Raymond in 1918, an example viewed on the bourse of the 1974 ANA convention, the H.P. Smith-Eliasberg coin, the Stickney-Brand-Johnson coin last sold at auction in 1907, an example owned by a California collector, the present Showers-Tettenhorst-McGuigan coin, and the Dupont-TAD piece also owned by a California collector.
McGuigan Commentary. Superb lustrous medium brown surfaces. One of about 10 or so Mint State examples of the variety. Struck over a cut down Talbot, Allum & Lee (T.A.L.) cent (token). Early die state (M1.0) without any die cracks. Breen plate coin (p. 174).
Provenance. Ex: Phillip M. Showers (Stack's, privately, 1969); Willis H. duPont; Fred S. Werner (2/1976); Superior (2/1976); Joe Flynn & Son (4/20/1976); R. Tettenhorst (10/1987).
Personality. In 1969, Stack's prepared a photographic record of the Phillip M. Showers Collection of half cents. A New York resident, Showers began collecting half cents in the late 1930s, and went on to form one of the greatest collections assembled up to that point in time. He was probably Philip Michael Showers of Tannersville, New York who was born on December 7, 1898, and died at Sarasota, Florida on January 5, 1986.
From The James R. McGuigan Half Cent Collection.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 2228, Variety PCGS# 35101, Base PCGS# 1042, Greysheet# 80865)

Weight: 6.74 grams

Metal: 100% Copper

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