1797 1C Gripped Edge, BN VF20BN 认证号12050718, PCGS号1416

Reverse of '96, Gripped Edge. Sheldon 120 B. Obverse die crack from left of L, along the top of Liberty to the rim over Y. The upper part of I is misshapen. A delicate die crack from the rim opposite the knot extends to the curls and date. Purchased from Chris Victor-McCawley at the 2022 ANA.

Ron Guth

The 1797 Gripped Edge Large Cents bear what Walter Breen described as "Irregulary spaced incuse notches and raised pellets on edge."  The purpose of this edge device is unknown.  Certainly, it did not serve the same purpose as the edge lettering, ornamentation, and reeding that appears on silver and gold coins (which was placed there to discourage the removal of metal by clipping or shaving).  Breen suggested that it may have been a means of marking a particular batch of planchets or that the marks were on the planchets that arrived from outside sources.

Gripped edges appear only on two varieties: Sheldon 120b and 121b, which are common and semi-scarce, respectively.  Mint State examples are very rare, with only two or three examples known of the two varieties combined.