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

2157

1798 1C First Hair. AU50 PCGS. S-154, B-8, High

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:2,200.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1798 1C First Hair. AU50 PCGS. S-154, B-8, High
<B>1798 1C First Hair. AU50 PCGS. S-154, B-8, High R.4.</B></I> <B>Bland VF35; tied for CC-4. Noyes VF35; tied for CC-3. Photo #24244. Our EAC Grade VF35.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Equivalents.</B></I> McGirk 5A; Clapp 12; EAC 8; <I>Encyclopedia </B></I>1718; PCGS #1431.<BR><BR><B>Variety. </B></I>Style I Hair. Large 8 overlaps drapery. Style I Letters. The obverse appears on S-154. The reverse appears on S-154.<BR><BR><B>Surfaces.</B></I> Sharpness is about five points finer than the net grade. Pleasing olive and reddish-brown surfaces with a few splashes of dark green verdigris. The obverse has a few faint hairlines near the bust tip. Partially Reeded Edge.<BR><BR><B>Die State III. </B></I>Both dies are buckled, and the obverse has a radial die crack along the upper edge of the bust. This is the terminal die state according to Breen's list.<BR><BR><B>Census. </B></I>A single prooflike Mint State piece (graded MS70 by Sheldon, MS62 by Noyes, and MS60 by Bland) is followed by several XF and VF examples, including the Husak specimen that remains solidly in the traditional census of the six finest examples.<BR><BR><B>Commentary. </B></I>The rarity of this variety remains unchanged since the late 1940s, called Rarity-4 in <I>Early American Cents, Penny Whimsy, </B></I>and Breen's<I> Large Cent Encyclopedia</B></I>. Today, 60 years after publication of Sheldon's first book, it is considered High Rarity-4 with about 100 examples known.<BR><BR><B>Provenance. </B></I><I>David Proskey; Henry C. Hines; Dr. William H. Sheldon; C. Douglas Smith (3/1983); G. Lee Kuntz (Superior, 10/1991), lot 175, $2,750; Robinson S. Brown, Jr. (Superior, 1/1996), lot 216, $2,200.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Personality. G. Lee Kuntz</B></I> resides in Claremont, California, and is a veteran of World War II, serving in the Navy. He completed a collection of Sheldon-numbered varieties on January 29, 1989, the eighth such collection ever formed. Superior sold his collection in October 1991. Kuntz operates Masterpiece Medallions, producers of the Early American Coppers medallions in 1981, 1992, and 1997.<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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