1814 1C Crosslet 4, BN MS(PCGS#1573)

August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1066

等级

MS65BN

价格

283,439

详细说明

Lovely Gem 1814 S-294 Cent Crosslet 4 Variety Popular Final Year of the Classic Head Design 1814 Classic Head Cent. S-294. Rarity-1. Crosslet 4. MS-65 BN (PCGS). CAC. Type:Classic Head. Design: Obv: A head of Liberty faces left with 13 stars around the border arranged seven left, six right. The date 1814 is below. Liberty is wearing a fillet inscribed LIBERTY. Rev: A circular wreath encloses the denomination ONE CENT with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border. Weight Standard: 10.89 grams. Diameter: 29 mm. Die Variety: Sheldon-294, Breen-1. Obv: Small, Crosslet 4 in the date, definitive for this obverse die, which appears only in the S-294 pairing. Rev: The point of the highest leaf in the wreath extends beyond the letter S in STATES, the letters STA lower at their base than the adjacent TES. S-294 also represents the only use of this reverse die. S-294 is the only die marriage that corresponds to the Crosslet 4 Guide Bookvariety of the 1814 Classic Head cent. Die State: Noyes B/B, Breen I. Obv: Perfect, the die beginning to deteriorate slightly with flowlines around the periphery and stars 10 to 13 drawn toward the border. Rev: Also perfect, yet with light flowlines around the border and a trace of a raised ridge along the inside of the denticles. Edge: Plain. Mintage for the Issue: 357,830 coins. Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety: Rarity-1: More than 1,500 coins in all grades. Strike: Both sides exhibit razor sharp design elements within fully denticulated borders. The impression is a tad off center to the upper right on both obverse and reverse, the denticulation thinner in those areas than elsewhere. Surfaces: This is an intensely lustrous coin with bold cartwheel frost under a light. Plenty of faded golden-apricot color remains, more prominently on the obverse, but also evident on the reverse around the letters in the words CENT and AMERICA. Warm steel-blue to light brown toning is seen on both sides with a faint overlay of olive throughout. The appearance is close to pristine, as befits the Gem Mint State grade assigned by PCGS, and there are no detracting marks. Carbon is minimal, the only significant fleck for provenance purposes is well concealed at the top of Liberty's head above the letter I in LIBERTY. Commentary: John Reich's Classic Head cent series passed into coinage history in 1814 with a reported mintage of 357,830 pieces for the year. The United States was in the throes of the War of 1812 at the time. Although the Treaty of Ghent signed on December 24, 1814, ended the conflict with Great Britain, future president Andrew Jackson would lead U.S. forces to victory in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, unaware of the treaty's signing. The United States government did not officially ratify the treaty until February 18, 1815. Among the many adverse effects of the war was the interruption of deliveries of copper planchets to the United States Mint. The Mint's principal supplier of this coinage metal at the time was Matthew Boulton, located in Birmingham, England. Indeed, his last shipment to the United States before the war (which officially commenced on June 18, 1812), was made in January 1811, the copper arriving sometime before May 9, 1812. No more shipments were made until after the cessation of hostilities, and the Mint's existing supply was exhausted by the end of 1814, explaining the lack of 1815 cents. When coinage of this denomination resumed in 1816, Reich's Classic Head motif had been replaced by the Matron Head design of Engraver Robert Scot. According to Breen, Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt delivered the year's production of cents to Mint Treasurer Benjamin Rush on October 27, 1814. The author continues the story: "The cents were paid out about December 26 to the Bank of Pennsylvania, from which they went to the general public. "Unsurprisingly, gem Uncirculated 1814s are unobtainable, though both varieties of this date are plentiful in all lower grades." Despite Breen's comments, a very small number of truly remarkable 1814 cents are known to today's collectors, including this Gem Mint State Sheldon-294. Additional Mint State survivors are known certified in the MS-60 to MS-64 range, in which grades the 1814 is the most available issue of its type, perhaps because the contemporary public set aside a number of these cents as the last of their design. The lovely ESM specimen is not included in either the Bland or 2015 Noyes census listings, the latter incorrectly assigning the ESM provenance to the Auction '81:1513 example, which is also the 1991 Noyes plate coin. In his cataloging of the ESM specimen for Superior's January 2004 sale, Bob Grellman assigned an EAC grade of "MS60+, close to choice." It is an outstanding example that will certainly elicit strong bids from both variety specialists and high grade type collectors. Provenance: From the ESM Collection. Earlier from Superior's Pre-Long Beach Auction of January 2004, lot 1289. PCGS Population: 3; 2 finer in this category (MS-66 BN finest). There is also an MS-65+ RB listed at this service, the only grading event in the RB category. PCGS# 1573. NGC ID: 224Y. Click here for certification details from PCGS.