5100

1793 Chain 1C AMERICA AU50 PCGS. S-3, R.3. The Cha

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:2.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1793 Chain 1C  AMERICA AU50 PCGS. S-3, R.3. The Cha
<B>1793 Chain 1C AMERICA AU50 PCGS.</B></I> S-3, R.3. The Chain Cents were the first coins produced by the fledgling United States Mint in Philadelphia, and were struck during the first two weeks of March 1793. Total mintage was 36,103 coins, and this mintage was distributed across five die marriages. The first of those was the now-famous Chain AMERI cent with the legend abbreviated for now unknown reasons. After that variety, a second reverse die was completed with AMERICA spelled out in its entirety. The public, those few that actually saw these coins, was not pleased with the design, and the new Wreath Cents were soon put into production.<BR> The obverse had a representation of Liberty, facing right, with her hair free flowing and intricately detailed. Above, the word LIBERTY was required by law, as was the date, below the bust. The reverse design included the statutory legend, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with a continuous chain of 15 links, representing the 15 states that were then part of the Union. Inside the chain, the denomination is expressed verbally as ONE CENT and also numerically as 1/100. There is little doubt that the original design was meant to express unity with the chain of 15 links unbroken. Some now believe that objections to this design detail were due to its representation of slavery.<BR> At the time these coins were produced, the Mint had plenty of copper available, from three lots received by the Mint during the last four months of 1792. A total of 6,345 pounds of copper were received by the Mint from three different suppliers, including Henry Voigt, James and Shoemaker, and Gustavus and Hugh Colhoun. This amount of copper was enough to produce over 200,000 large cents, plenty for the entire mintage of 1793 large cents and some of those dated 1794.<BR> This example is sharply detailed on both sides, with greenish-steel surfaces and evidence of light corrosion on both sides. Traces of light green corrosion may be seen on the reverse. The surfaces are otherwise quite hard, and are splashed with light orange, deep red, and steel brown color. Struck from a late die state with heavy clash marks near Liberty's face and below the bust truncation. Examples in such a late die state are seldom encountered. This is an important opportunity for the advanced collector. Lot:5100