1923-S 1C MS65 Red PCGS....

Click the image to load the highest resolution version.

Sold on Apr 29, 2010 for:

$18,400.00 Bid Source: Internet bidder

Get one of these:

Share this lot

Track Item Printable Auction Results

Sell One of These

Description

Auction Info

Guides & Info

Description

Amazing Full Red 1923-S Cent, MS65
None Certified Finer

1923-S 1C MS65 Red PCGS. After several years of full-bore production brought on by World War I and its aftermath, the recession of the early 1920s influenced mintage figures across most denominations, and the cent was among the most affected. Though mintages for 1923 were substantially higher than for 1922, when Denver and Denver alone produced under 7.2 million pieces, overall mintages were hardly high; San Francisco struck just 8.7 million cents in 1923.
Depressed mintages alone, however, do not account for this issue's condition rarity. In many cases, coinage dies were pushed far beyond their practical life, and as Lange notes in his Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents, "Mushy coins struck from worn dies are the rule for 1923-S. One or both sides will usually exhibit extreme erosion of the dies ..." Coloration can also be a mixed bag, and many examples, even Mint State ones, show unappealing dark brown shadings. Lange further comments that "Finding a problem-free, well-struck and appealing 1923-S cent is all but impossible."
One of the few survivors to defy the odds is offered here. Though it shows slight softness on the portrait, the overall level of detail is undeniably above-average, particularly on the lines of the wheat ears on the reverse. Its immensely lustrous, unturned copper-orange surfaces offer wonderful eye appeal. Carefully preserved and an absolute delight, conditionally rare and unsurpassed; neither NGC nor PCGS has certified a numerically finer Red representative (3/10).
Ex: Jack Lee Estate Lincoln Cent Registry Set (Heritage, 12/2008), lot 180, where it realized $19,550.(Registry values: N2998)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 22CB, PCGS# 2548, Greysheet# 1882)

Weight: 3.11 grams

Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc

View Certification Details from PCGS