Lot 151
1792 Cent. Copper or
Fusible Alloy. Reeded edge. Judd-2, Pollock-2, Rarity-7. PCGS graded
VG-10. We don't know if this is a fusible alloy or a copper cent, not that
it matters very much. This coin should be tested by an expert in order to
properly identify if it is one of the fusible alloy pieces. The idea behind the
fusible alloy was Henry Voigt's. He decided that by placing a small amount of
silver (like the silver center cents) and mixing it into the copper to make a
cent, the size could be greatly reduced. To strike a coin worth one cent of
copper, the coin would have been four times as large as this coin. Note the
size and weight of the 1792 Birch Cents, and just imagine a few of those
clunkers jangling about your pockets. Voigt was onto a good idea, but it
wouldn't fully develop until 1856 when the large cents were reduced in size to
the Flying Eagles, then reduced again in 1864 to French bronze pieces, and
finally in 1982 to a small copper coated zinc planchet in use today. Trouble
with Voigt's mixing the silver with the copper, is that you couldn't tell if
there was any silver, and the value would then be brought into question. The
last thing the new government needed was a scandal, especially trying to pass
inflated money (which had frequently happened elsewhere) off on the
unsuspecting public. A silver and copper alloy combination would have to
wait.
One of the better examples of this extremely important coin known,
this 1792 pattern issue was likely struck in December of 1792 at the
Philadelphia Mint. It had been proposed to strike three type of cents, and
Thomas Jefferson himself wrote to George Washington with information about this
early coinage as follows:
"Th. Jefferson has the honor to send the President
two cents made on Voigt's plan of putting a silver plug worth three quarters of
a cent into a copper worth one quarter of a cent."
"Mr. Rittenhouse is about
to make a few by mixing the same plug by fusion with the same quantity of
copper. He will then make of copper alone of the same size and lastly he will
make the real cent as ordered by Congress, four times as big. Specimens of
these several ways of making the cent may now be delivered to the Committee of
Congress now having the subject before them."
Thus, the 1792 pattern cents
were made in three ways, the famous silver center cents, the fusible alloy with
the silver and copper mixed together (or just plain copper), and regular large
copper cents. This is the fusible alloy type, possibly only copper, one can't
tell without an expert in metallurgy to confirm the presence of the proper
amount of silver in the copper planchet.
Sharply struck and well preserved,
unlike several others which are corroded or simply not appealing in grade.
Clean surfaces and well struck, with familiar dark olive patina in the fields,
lighter coppery shades on the devices. Struck with the reverse die rotated 180
degrees from later coinage, so you turn the coin over side to side, instead of
top to bottom, and all known specimens show this die alignment. The edge has a
raised reed at the center of the edge, although it is hard to see in the PCGS
holder. There are some trivial pin scratches near the bust tip and others in
the hair, and a very minor edge tap is noted above the second T of STATES.
Overall, this coin is pleasant, the surface roughness is familiar to any copper
collector, and not too bad as such things go, and the coin has a wonderful
appearance to the eye. The date and devices are all strong, and the only
weakness is on the ON of ONE at the central reverse.
A list of the known
specimens is taken from the Norweb Collection, 11/88:3393:
1). National
Collection
2). Norweb, second finest known
3). Garrett: 2348, ex Maris,
Seavey (1873)
4). Lauder:234, Bowers and Ruddy's Rare Coin Review, #53
(This Coin)
5). ANA Museum, ex Paramount's Century Sale, 1965:50; Pine
Tree 2-21-75:59
6). Harmer-Rooke 11-69; to a private collection, Good to
Very Good, porous
7). Lohr (1961); River Oaks, Bowers and Ruddy, 1976:909;
Stack's 1-14-87:476, Good, porous
8). Crosby, Plate X, 12, the Appleton-MHS
coin, now untraced.
An exciting and historic pattern to own, and certain to
be one of the highlights of any collection it graces. Color photo.
Estimated Value $35,000-UP.
Lot 152
1792 Copper Disme. Reeded
edge. Judd-10, Pollock-11, High Rarity-6. PCGS graded EF-45. Here is
one of the most desirable of the 1792 pattern issues. Approximately 15 are
known in all grades of this important trial piece. This is one of the finer
ones known, behind the stunning example from the Garrett collection. Better
than EF coin from the Norweb sale, and similar to the Stack's 1976 ANA sale
specimen. It doesn't appear to be the Crosby plate coin either from our check
of available reference works.
Medium to dark brown in color and very well
preserved. The surfaces show only the slightest trace of porosity, mostly in
the lettering. Quickly identifiable by a minor planchet lamination near the
bust tip through the B of LIBERTY, and this feature will allow the next owner
to quickly trace the specimen from the few known in this grade from the roster
below. No circulation marks or other problems, clearly this coin was cherished
soon after it was struck and carefully preserved by generations of
numismatists. Only 3 pieces graded by PCGS, one the MS-65, the other two both
EF-45. No others reported by that service.
Here is a list of those known,
taken from the Bowers and Merena Norweb Sale, November 1988, lot 3391:
1).
Garrett: 2352 as Choice AU, now graded Specimen MS-65 by PCGS
2). Norweb,
11-88:3391 as EF, prior to that Ex. Ellsworth
3). Lauder: 237 as "AU", ex
Jackman:224
4). Stack's ANA 1976:131. "EF" Ex: NERCA, November
1975:383
5). Byron Reed Collection "Fine"
6). Robison: 968 "VF", Ex:
Park:203, Stack's June 1973:879, weakly struck lower right obverse
7).
Stack's January 1987:515 "AG", Bowers and Ruddy, November 1976:937
8).
Crosby Plate X, 18, EF? (probably not this coin)
9). Bushnell:1761,
EF?
10). National Collection, ex Mint "AU."
11). Eric P. Newman
Collection
12). Ten Eyck:566-A, "VF"
13). Jess Peters, ANA, 1973:1088,
"AU-Unc."
14). Another, whereabouts unknown
Of the above, we checked
several but were unable to trace this specimen from our available library
reference material (time is also a factor too, of course). It could be the
Lauder coin, or the Bushnell, maybe even the Ten Eyck or Jess Peters piece
noted, or even one not even listed above. Color photo.
The story of the
1792 pattern issues is filled with mystery and guesswork. We know the founding
fathers were very interested in the founding of the Philadelphia Mint, and
Washington was a frequent visitor. The foundation for our coinage had been laid
by Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance in the 1780s. The results of these
early efforts resulted in the Nova Constellation coinage and pattern issues.
The establishment of a mint would have to wait a few more years. In 1790
Congress instructed Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, to
prepare a plan to establish a Mint. In July of 1791 a report was submitted to
Congress by Hamilton, and on March 3, 1792 Washington approved a joint
resolution of Congress to establish a mint. The original legislation, prior to
the April 2 passage read as follows:
"Upon each of the said coins there
shall be an impression or representation of the head of the President of the
United States for the time being, with an inscription which shall express the
initial or first letter of the Christian or first name and his surname at
length, the succession of the presidency numerically, and the year of the
coinage; the reverse of the gold and silver coins to bear...an eagle with the
inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA"
Well, President Washington did not
find favor with this (see the 1791 and 1792 contract coinage patterns elsewhere
in this sale for examples!). Washington did not want to be represented on our
coinage, and had the section changed to read "...an impression emblematic of
Liberty, and the year of coinage..." dropping the President from
coinage.
While the Mint was still an idea, a New Jersey sawmaker named John
Harper used his Philadelphia facilities and small coining press to make
contract coinage. Research has confirmed that the first half dimes, using
George Washington's own silver dinnerware, were coined in his cellar located at
the corner of Sixth and Cherry Streets, Philadelphia, in early 1792.
On July
1, 1792 David Rittenhouse was selected by Washington to be the first Director
of the Mint, A lot was purchased on Seventh Street in Philadelphia, and the lot
was cleared. A cornerstone was laid July 31, 1792 by Rittenhouse. By September
7, 1792 operations began. On September 11, six pounds of copper were purchased
for coinage. Coinage presses ordered from England arrived September 21, 1792.
Congress had required the onerous bond of $10,000 for the Mint employees in
order for them to coin either silver or gold. The cost of the bond could not be
met initially, and for this reason, no silver or gold was coined in 1792-93 at
the Philadelphia Mint. Washington referred to the Half Dismes in his fourth
annual address on November 6, 1792.
The first copper coins struck at the
Mint were in December of 1792, coiner Henry Voigt's account includes the
notation "Struck off a few pieces of copper coin" under the date of December
18, 1792. Perhaps this reference is to this coin, or the various cents
produced, silver center, fusible alloy, or large cents of 1792 to show the
powers that be. Decades later, when the original Mint building was demolished,
Frank H. Stewart found two planchets for making the 1792 silver center cents,
thus verifying that these were almost certainly struck at the Mint.
As to
this 1792 Disme, the dies are thought to have been engraved by Joseph Wright,
the famed engraver of the 1793 half cent and Liberty Cap cent. Wright died of
Yellow Fever in September 1793, just after completing a few dies. Wright's
artistic talents far exceeded those of Robert Scot, who was hired to replace
him as the defacto chief engraver. Our thanks to the cataloguers of the Norweb
collection for the above information, and for further reading on the subject,
see Breen's Encyclopedia, U.S. Mint and Coinage by Taxay, and Frank Stewart's
History of the United States Mint.
Estimated Value $35,000-UP.
Lot 153
1794 Pattern Silver Dollar,
struck in copper, no stars, lettered edge. PCGS graded VF-20.
Judd-18, Pollock-25. Unique! This unique copper dollar is almost
certainly the very first dollar coin struck at the Philadelphia Mint, and its
importance can't be overstated. The obverse die of this coin was apparently
used to coin only this piece. For most of its history, collectors thought that
after this piece was coined, the stars were added to the obverse die and the
balance of the 1794 silver dollars struck came from this die pairing. Research
by Andrew W. Pollock III finally demonstrated in 1989 that the obverse die did
not later have the stars added, but that an entirely new die was engraved for
1794 silver dollars with stars.
It is virtually certain that this coin was a
pattern issue reviewed by all Mint and Federal officials. It is very similar to
the pattern 1794 half dime, also with no obverse stars (Judd-14) which is also
unique. In the 1792 pattern issues, the motto LIBERTY PARENT OF SCIENCE AND
INDUSTRY was used on the obverse. This motto dropped in 1794 and not used
again. Without the motto, the fields were left open, and the head of Liberty is
centered between the word LIBERTY and the date 1794 below. After viewing this
coin, and probably the 1794 no stars pattern half dime, the decision to add
stars to future dies was made. No doubt Mint officials decided the stars would
further protect the coin and increase its longevity in circulation. We note the
cheeks on Liberty are very full, not unlike the Sheldon-24 large cent of 1794,
but not quite as dramatic on this coin as seen on the large cent. Perhaps the
two dies were made by the same engraver?
The obverse die differs from the
1794 with stars as follows: the 4 on the no stars obverse is placed over the
center of a dentil, while on the with stars pieces the 4 is not perfectly
centered over a dentil. The placement of the digits in the date are also
slightly different on this coin than the later with stars variety. We also note
that the hub used to produced this die lacks certain details, mostly on the
back of the curls on Liberty. On later 1795 silver dollars, which use this same
hub (Liberty's head) on the obverse, the hair curls tips, lettering, date, and
stars would be added to the die. Note in particular that the curl tip (usually
third from the bottom) has not been engraved on this 1794 no stars die, but a
third curl tip is always added on the with stars 1794 dollar obverse and all
1795 flowing hair dies later. We would guess the engraver simply used the
obverse hub to make the die and didn't complete the finishing details of
lengthening curls. Also, note the size, direction and length of this normally
hand engraved curl tip is diagnostic on later 1795 silver dollar obverse
varieties and used to tell the dies apart. Using a master hub produces
identical dies, except for added details, like the lettering placement, curls
added etc... The reverse die is the same used to produce all known 1794 silver
dollars. Curiously, the reverse die was not used later in 1795, although the
die showed no signs of breaking or wear on the few 1794 dollars
produced.
The physical characteristics include a deep dark chocolate brown
color, the surfaces show a fine layer of porosity, with some small deep pits
and general roughness on much of the surface. The reverse has more porosity
than the obverse. Diagnostics are all present, and the coin is not unlike most
large cents of the era. The edge lettering is sharp, and can be seen despite
the PCGS holder insert, if examined carefully. There are no unsightly bangs or
bumps, the rims are very choice, and the coin has a pleasant appearance
overall. A couple of faint scratches can be seen on the obverse and reverse,
but a strong glass is needed. The dollar is the central monetary unit of
coinage in this country. This coin is apparently the first and only example to
survive from this die pairing, with a pedigree that includes several of the
most famous collectors of the past two centuries. A more important opportunity
to purchase any coin simply can not be imagined.
What makes this coin
so important is that it is likely the very first "silver" dollar struck at the
Mint. It is obviously a die trial piece, struck in copper to test the dies,
coining equipment, and to receive approval from the officials. As noted,
apparently this met with disfavor, as a new obverse die was engraved and used
to coin the small number of 1794 silver dollars later that year. It is likely
that this very coin was inspected by President Washington, as well as countless
other government and Mint officials. Washington was very interested in the
progress at the Philadelphia Mint, and would no doubt have been involved in
approving the new silver dollar.
What is curious is that this coin somehow
was lost, and the rumor that it was given to President Washington as a memento
has generally been disproven. Research by the late Jack Collins indicates that
this coin may have shown up when the first Philadelphia Mint building was torn
down around 1833 when the new Philadelphia Mint began service. This coin is
first reported in the collection of John W. Haseltine, which is the time the
silver center cents (1792) found their way into the Mint Collection in
Philadelphia. As this coin is porous, it may well have been buried for a time,
or at least in a damp environment (Philadelphia certainly qualifies for that!).
This coin is next known in the Robert Coulton Davis collection, Davis was the
special pharmacist who used his authority to obtain large amounts of laudanum
for Mint employees, from whom he obtained many coins for his collection! When
Davis sold his collection in 1890, this coin was purchased by Harlan T. Smith
and David Proskey, who then sold it to Lorin Parmelee. Next it went to George
D. Woodside via the Parmelee Sale of 1890, Woodside sold it via Smith and
Proskey again to William H. Woodin. Wooden sold it after a few years to Waldo
Newcomer. At some point later, Dr. J. Hewitt Judd bought the coin where it was
included in his famous book on Pattern coins. Next it turns up in a Sotheby's
Sale in London in 1973, where Ed Milas purchased it and sold it to a Delaware
Collector. The coin next crossed the block in the 1977 Getty Sale by Bowers and
Ruddy, then later in the sale by Bowers and Merena of Dr. Nelson Page Aspen
(ANA Sale) of 1989 lot 741. The coin was then sold to the current
consignor.
While this coin is not as beautiful as the gem 1794 with stars
copper dollar in the Smithsonian Institution, this coin does have one
advantage, it was struck first! This may not be the most valuable coin in the
sale, but it will always be one of the most important we have ever sold. A
museum piece that still resides in private hands, at least for now.
Estimated Value $75,000-UP.
Lot 154
1795 Pattern Half Eagle.
Copper, reeded edge. Judd-23, Pollock-38, One of Two Known! PCGS graded
VG-10. An extremely rare pattern issue struck from the regular mint dies,
known as die pairing Breen-3-D, Miller-5. The reverse has the curious second S
over D in STATES. History tells us that only two copper trial patterns are
known of 1795 half eagles. The other one is defaced, presumably at the
Philadelphia Mint to stop if from being gilded and passed as a half eagle.
Obviously, that piece would not be as desirable with the dents defacing the
coin. One must conjecture that this was a pocket piece, it has smooth even wear
with all of Liberty's head sharp and defined, although a few stars are worn
into the rim, similar on the reverse, but the central portion of the eagle's
breast is a bit weak, along with some of the peripheral letters, especially
STATE. For a copper coin, the color and surfaces are choice, none of the usual
pitting or corrosion is present, unlike most copper coins of this era. For
additional identification, there are two minor scratches below the last A of
AMERICA.
One must speculate that this coin was the pocket piece of someone
special. We could make the usual statement that this was probably George
Washington's personal example, along with the thousands of other worn coins
frequently "traced" as his pocket pieces (as Marty Oghigian used to say
"Washington had mighty large pockets" whenever someone claimed to have yet
another George Washington pocket piece discovery). We certainly don't know
who's coin it was 206 years ago, but someone treasured it for many years, and
carried it as a memento. Logic dictates that it was someone working in the
Mint, or a very influential politician that was well connected with the Mint.
Perhaps we will never know, but this is a coin that is overflowing with
history, and because of its moderate grade, will likely realize a price that
will put it within the reach of many serious collectors, the lucky winner of
which will certainly treasure this coin for many years to come, as it has been
treasured in the past.
Walter Breen speculates that this die was probably
made by the bumbling Robert Scot, the Mint's engraver at the time. Around the
periphery several of the dentils extend well into the fields, far beyond the
normal placement. Breen speculates that this was Scot slipping with his
engraving tool as he fumbled his way into numismatic history. This is likely as
Scot was the probable choice for making such important dies, no one else being
available at the time. The dies were probably prepared in May of 1795, and this
may have been one of the first struck. There is evidence of an undertype from a
host coin, likely a large cent as a half cent would have been too narrow to be
the planchet, while a large cent could be cut down and rolled to the correct
size. When examining this coin with a glass, note the undertype line that runs
up from Liberty's nose on the half eagle into her forehead and hair, and
another tell tail remnant is located along her upper drapery into her hair. On
the reverse, there are other traces of undertype near the branch and into the
eagle. Careful study will resolve this puzzle, and it will prove enticing for
numismatists to ponder what the source of the planchet was. A most thoroughly
enjoyable piece of Americana.
Estimated Value $7,000-UP.
No
provenance information included.