1793 1C Chain, S-3, BN MS(PCGS#35438)

The Samuel Berngard and S.S. New York Collections

拍卖行

Stack's

批号

1074

等级

MS64

价格

1,411,334

详细说明

1793 Sheldon-3. Rarity-3-. Chain, AMERICA. MS-64 BN (NGC). An exceptionally well-pedigreed and superbly preserved specimen of our first large cent type, displaying the head of a youthful Liberty with wildly flowing hair, the motto LIBERTY above distinguished by a notably high R rising well above E and T. This reverse adapted the circle of links that had provided the major reverse device of the 1787 Fugio cents to symbolize the hoped-for close union of the 13 original states. The engraver had now mastered spacing sufficiently to include the entire national designation UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. This exceptional cent boasts deep glossy chocolate brown surfaces with tantalizing golden and deep blue undertones and strong reverse lustre. The advanced die state results in appealing, radial die lines and the bold die clash of the reverse chain is visible around Liberty's face. The boldness of the strike results in superbly detailed hair, facial features and chain. Careful examination under a glass reveals a tiny vertical nick in left obverse field, a few minuscule rim bumps, tiny spot of foreign material sitting atop the coin at sixth hair strand that is easily removable. Few Chain cents of any variety approach this coin for outstanding sharpness, visual appeal, and overall physical quality. NGC Census: 2; 3 finer within the designation (MS-66 finest). Few large cents of any date, type or variety can even approach the history embodied in this particular specimen. This coin first appeared at auction in 1866, and was the first ever photographically plated in any American numismatic auction catalogue and in the first photographic guide to early copper varieties as study and collecting of these fascinating coins intensified. The 1869 Mortimer MacKenzie sale conducted by Edward Cogan ("the English Daddy of the American Coin Trade") was the first to use photography for its illustrations—a technological triumph and a monumental leap ahead in the production of numismatic auction catalogues in the U.S. The Crosby-Levick plate, an illustration of the 12 known obverse dies used on 1793 cents and their 10 reverse mates, was the standard guide for this inaugural year of U.S. Mint copper coinage until Sylvester Crosby revisited familiar ground in 1896. The Levick Plate, published in the April 1869 issue of the American Journal of Numismatics, featured this coin as the image of obverse 2. This piece was formerly in the Ted Naftzger and T. James Clarke collections. This coin appeared in Del Bland's Condition Census for its variety as sixth best in the highly distinctive "Early American Coppers" style EF-45, although he noted finer specimens then impounded in private collections and the Earle-French-Clapp coin in the American Numismatic Society cabinet. In the NGC Census, three Chain cents have been graded finer, with MS-66 being the finest graded. Chain cents if found at all, are generally found well-circulated, frequently corroded and showing evidence of their adventures over two centuries. Few active in collecting the United States series can recall when a Chain cent was not a major dream, even if their collecting specialty has zeroed in on early cents, or just the date 1793. Of course a superb quality and well-pedigreed Chain cent ranks high on any determined connoisseur's dream list. The present specimen has been chosen by so many dedicated collectors over the last 200 years and continues to mesmerize even the most jaded collectors with its immaculate preservation and matchless visual appeal. Provenance: First offered in Edward Cogan's sale of the Colin Lightbody Collection, December 1866, Lot 536. Lightbody had purchased what would later be known as the Yale University specimen of the Brasher doubloon from W. Elliot Woodward for $400 two years earlier. The cent passed in turn to the collection of Mortimer Livingston Mackenzie, then emerging in Edward Cogan's sale of the Mackenzie Collection, the first plated American auction catalogue, June 1869, as Lot 624. Six 1793 cents were included in that historic auction, all pictured on the April 1869 Levick Plate in the American Journal of Numismatics. The coin passed in sequence to L. Bayard Smith, an unknown party, Arthur L. Gray, Ted and Carl Brandts of Celina Coin Company, T. James Clarke. Clarke's cent collection was sold intact to R.E. "Ted" Naftzger in October, 1954. Portions were sold in Abe Kosoff's sale of the T. James Clarke Collection, April 1956, including this piece as Lot 4. Sold by Stack's to Dorothy Nelson, and sold as part of her collection in Stack's sale of the "TAD" Collection, February 1976, Lot 3. Ed Hipps placed the coin in Steve Ivy's sale of November 1978, Lot 7 to Robert Bender. It surfaced in the 1988 Heritage ANA Auction, August 1988, Lot 3. It was next obtained by Anthony Terranova, Kevin Lipton, Stack's, appearing in American Numismatic Rarities first sale, the Classics Sale of July 2003, Lot 105 and is now offered once again in 2008. Every effort has been made to ensure the integrity of the data but transcription and other errors may have occurred. Before using this information to make a buying or selling decision, confirm the data by consulting the actual sales catalog and prices realized. Stack’s Bowers Galleries disclaims any liability from the use of this information.