1811 Wide Date, B-1, C-1, Low R.4, AU55 PCGS. Our EAC Grade XF45....

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1811 B-1, C-1 Half Cent, AU55
The Usual Early Die State

1811 Wide Date, B-1, C-1, Low R.4, AU55 PCGS. Our EAC Grade XF45. Equivalents. Proskey 1: 1-A; Ross 1-A; Gilbert-2; Empire-64; Cohen-1; Breen-1; Bowers-Whitman 1; Eckberg 1-A.
Rarity. Low R.4. Eckberg estimates that 150 of these survive in all grades while the Bowers-Whitman Guide Book suggests that 150 to 225 are known. Fuhrman's 2021 reference rates the variety High R.3, indicating a range of 200 to 300 examples.

Obverse 1 appears on Breen-1. This is the Wide Date with each date digit leaning to the left. The left edge of the hair curl is slightly right of the second 1. Star 13 is centered between the hair and the border, and that is diagnostic. The E in LIBERTY is sharply repunched, but no other letters are doubled.

Reverse A appears on Breen-1 and 2. Each T in the legend has a small defect at the lower right upright. The D in UNITED is low. The highest leaf point is nearly midway between the final S and the O in OF, as on 1809 Reverse E and 1810 Reverse A. Unlike those other reverse dies, a berry is below the upright of the R.
Edge. Plain.
Surfaces. Rich and smooth olive and steel-brown toning hosts traces of faded mint red on this important piece. A small mark is noted on Liberty's cheek and some trivial, grade-limiting hairlines are located in the right obverse field.
Die State. Manley Die State 1.0. The usual early die state struck from perfect dies.
Appearances. Illustrated at PCGS Coin Facts.
PCGS Population (5/2022). Five 1811 half cents are PCGS graded AU55 and six submissions are graded finer. This example is the only one of those five AU55 grade coins that is attributed as C-1, and only the sensational MS66 Red and Brown example is finer among those identified as C-1.
Commentary. Both varieties of 1811 half cents are scarce and they are infrequently encountered in top grades. The MS66 Red and Brown Missouri Cabinet-Pogue-Jung coin is finest known. Following that are two examples from the Partrick Collection that grade SP64 Brown. Those three coins are the top examples recorded in the Breen-Hanson Condition Census. Two or three other Mint State examples of this die pair are known from older collections including one in the Smithsonian Institution. Three other Mint State pieces recorded in the Breen-Hanson record have not been seen for more than 100 years. The present piece ranks among the 10 finest survivors from this die pair.
McGuigan Commentary. Choice glossy medium brown planchet. Early die state (M1.0) without any obverse die breaks. Identifiable by two small pin scratches in the right obverse field.
Provenance. Ex: New Netherlands (6/1962), lot 445; Robert Schonwalter (Stack's, 1/2003), lot 1176.
Personality. A long-time member of Early American Coppers, Robert Harold Schonwalter was born at Newark, New Jersey on March 6, 1915, and died at Bergen County, New Jersey on September 5, 1998. Schonwalter was a collector active from the 1950s to the 1980s. He assembled all varieties of the Massachusetts half cents and nearly completed his federal half cent collection according to Gilbert and Cohen variety numbers. He also collected and studied Hard Times tokens and ancient coinage.
Personality. Moritz Wormser was the founder of New Netherlands Coin Company, operated by his son Charles, but it was the collaboration of John J. Ford and Walter Breen that put this firm on the numismatic map. Breen was the researcher who would put everything he knew about a coin on a note card, while Ford created exceptional descriptions. The firm handled many important copper sales, including the collections of Hillyer Ryder, Boyd and Gaskill, Homer Downing, and duplicates of R.E. Naftzger, Jr.
From The James R. McGuigan Half Cent Collection.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 222S, Variety PCGS# 35239, Base PCGS# 1135, Greysheet# 80909)

Weight: 5.44 grams

Metal: 100% Copper

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