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

2142

1797 1C Reverse of 1797. MS63 Brown PCGS. S-139,

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:9,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1797 1C Reverse of 1797. MS63 Brown PCGS. S-139,
<B>1797 1C Reverse of 1797. MS63 Brown PCGS. S-139, B-21, R.1.</B></I> <B>Bland MS61; tied for CC-1. Noyes MS63; tied for CC-1. Photo #29957. Our EAC Grade MS60+.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Equivalents.</B></I> Proskey 14; Doughty 105; McGirk 10A; Clapp-Newcomb 22; EAC 21; <I>Encyclopedia</B></I> 1711; PCGS #1422.<BR><BR><B>Variety. </B></I>ER and 7 close to bust, base of I low. Die scratches from fraction bar and left stem. The obverse appears on S-139. The reverse appears on S-139 and S-140.<BR><BR><B>Surfaces.</B></I> This is a frosty steel beauty with full cartwheel luster and excellent aesthetic appeal. The surfaces are pristine with traces of faded red hugging the devices. The design motifs are nicely centered with full obverse and reverse borders.<BR><BR><B>Die State III.</B></I> The obverse has two cracks from the border at 8 o'clock, one heading right to the hair above the lower curls, the other near the border to the lowest curl. The reverse has faint clash marks but no evidence of die bulging.<BR><BR><B>Appearances. </B></I>The obverse and reverse are illustrated in Noyes (2007).<BR><BR><B>Census.</B></I> Only three Mint State examples of S-139 are known, including this piece and one other that are tied for finest known.<BR><BR><B>Commentary.</B></I> Sheldon-139 is the single most common 1797 cent variety by a wide margin over S-138. Like S-138, it can usually be found in about any desired grade.<BR><B><BR>Provenance.</B></I> <I>John G. Murdoch; Sotheby's (London, 7/1903), lot 949; Major William B. Wetmore; Chapman Brothers (6/1906), lot 555, $21; Dr. Lewis H. Adler, Jr.; Henry C. Hines; Lillian Sheer (1948); Homer K. Downing (New Netherlands, 1952 ANA), lot 1780, $240; Elliot Landau; New Netherlands (12/1958), lot 115, $360; Emanuel Taylor (12/1958); Louis Helfenstein (Lester Merkin, 8/1964), lot 13, $1,500; R.E. Naftzger, Jr. (New Netherlands, 11/1973), lot 455, $2,100; RARCOA; Dennis Forgue; Thomas E. Werner; Stack's (1/1987), lot 841, $8,250; Herman Halpern (Stack's, 3/1988), lot 140, $9,900; Andrew M. Hain (Stack's, 1/2002), lot 738, $17,250.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Personality.</B></I> <B>William Boerum Wetmore</B></I> was a military officer who was educated at the Military Academy in West Point, and commissioned as a second lieutenant on June 14, 1872. In 1873 he foiled an attempt at robbing the paymaster, and fought against the Indians at Red River the following year. He resigned his commission in 1876 but was appointed a major in the New York State Militia, serving that organization from 1879 to 1882. Wetmore was a delegate to the 1888 Democratic Convention. His coin collection was sold by the Chapman Brothers in June 1906, and included an 1804 silver dollar. Wetmore died in Atlantic City in 1919.<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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