1877 1C PR67 Red PCGS. CAC. Snow-PR3....

"Herewith find observations on the humble bronze cent bearing date 1877: Noticing that this date formed a very small proportion of the dates to be found in a handful of pennies, it occurred to me to start a memorandum record. So in 1881 I began with 1,250 procured from the bank and found six dated 1877, showing that in the general circulation it then constituted .0048 of the output. In 1883, when the number examined had reached 2,950, eleven of the date had appeared, equivalent to .0037. In May, 1884, 7,500 had yielded twenty-four, .0032. An intermission then took place, and on February 10, 1896, 10,100 had returned only twenty-four, not one having been found in the additional lot, or .0023. The final entry, November 27, 1897, brought the total to 28,450, with thirty-five of 1877, .0012.

"The foregoing shows in a striking manner how the 1877 date in sixteen years had moved toward the vanishing point. What it is to-day I do not know. I believe, however, that it would take a very long day's work to secure even one out of a batch of ten thousand. The measure of its value would be the value of the seeker's time, surely not less than $1 a day. And yet you may have an 1877 cent among your change at this moment."