LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 February Long Beach Signature Coin #460  / 

2057

1794 1C Head of '94. MS64 Brown PCGS. S-55,

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:5,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1794 1C Head of '94. MS64 Brown PCGS. S-55,
<B>1794 1C Head of '94. MS64 Brown PCGS. S-55, B-47, R.2.</B></I> <B>Bland MS60; CC-1. Noyes AU50; CC-1. Photo #21183. Our EAC Grade AU55.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Equivalents. </B></I>Maris 9; Frossard 5.3; Doughty 29; Hays 13; McGirk 2-A; Ross 8-G; Chapman 44; EAC 45; <I>Encyclopedia </B></I>1668; PCGS #901374.<BR><BR><B>Variety. </B></I>Date has 7 leaning sharply to the right. A in STATES high, close to first T, and leans to the left. The obverse appears on S-54, S-55, and S-56. The reverse appears on S-55. Lettered Edge, leaf points up. Sheldon called this the "Big Berries" variety, due to the size of the berries in the wreath.<BR><BR><B>Surfaces. </B></I>An impressive piece with gorgeous mahogany surfaces, excellent cartwheel luster, and faint traces of original mint red on each side. The left obverse field has a tiny planchet defect or chip behind the cap, an excellent provenance marker.<BR><BR><B>Die State II.</B></I> The obverse is always cracked from the left border to the hair, just above the sixth lock. This crack formed during the previous marriage for S-54. A faint crack in the lower curls has advanced to the bottom lock behind the shoulder, and diagonally up to the left through several hair strands. Faint clash marks can be seen in the obverse fields.<BR><BR><B>Appearances. </B></I>The obverse and reverse are illustrated in <I>Early American Cents</B></I>, <I>Penny Whimsy</B></I>, and Noyes (1991 and 2006).<BR><BR><B>Census. </B></I>Noyes and Bland both consider this example finest known, although they disagree about the grade. Bland calls it Mint State and Noyes grades it AU50. Noyes considers the surfaces to be average.<BR><BR><B>Commentary. </B></I>There is no doubt that the interpretation of grading standards has changed over the years, even in regard to the conservative criteria employed by early copper collectors. For example, Sheldon discussed this specific coin in <I>Penny Whimsy:</B></I> "The Shumway-Hines piece appears to stand alone at MS65, with the Newcomb coin an excellent second at AU50." A half century later, the Shumway-Hines piece is still considered finest known, but is only graded AU50 to MS60, depending on whose grades are preferred. The Newcomb coin is now considered XF45 by Noyes and AU50 by Bland.<BR><BR><B>Provenance. </B></I><I>Frank Shumway; Henry C. Hines; Dr. William H. Sheldon (4/1972); R.E. Naftzger, Jr. (2/1992); Eric Streiner; Jay Parrino; Anthony Terranova (6/1996).</B></I><BR><BR><B>Personality. John Smith Gardner</B></I> served the Mint in the mid 1790's as assistant engraver under Robert Scot, who did not welcome the assistance. Gardner engraved dies and created device punches during his brief tenure from November 1794 until March 1796. Scott, whose competence has been questioned by many, may have been jealous of Gardner's superior skills. After leaving the Mint, he worked as a seal cutter. He also invented the Stenographic Telegraphic, a device that translated speech into telegraphic characters, a forerunner of court recording devices.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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