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

2166

1798 1C First Hair. XF40 PCGS. S-163, B-19, R.4

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1,100.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1798 1C First Hair. XF40 PCGS. S-163, B-19, R.4
<B>1798 1C First Hair. XF40 PCGS. S-163, B-19, R.4.</B></I> <B>Bland VF25; CC-3. Noyes VF30; CC-2. Photo #20146. Our EAC Grade VF30.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Equivalents.</B></I> Proskey 23; Doughty 131; McGirk 15A; Clapp 23; EAC 20; <I>Encyclopedia </B></I>1723; PCGS #1431.<BR><BR><B>Variety. </B></I>Style I Hair. Top hair curls incomplete. 100 wide, die scratch right from fraction bar. The obverse appears on S-163. The reverse appears on S-159 and S-163.<BR><BR><B>Surfaces.</B></I> Dark steel-brown surfaces with hints of olive toning and a few small splashes of lighter tan color. Probably cleaned and recolored. The surfaces are lightly abraded, consistent with the grade. A small scrape is visible in the right obverse field, and the reverse has microscopic roughness. Plain Edge.<BR><BR><B>Die State VI. </B></I>The obverse has a small retained cud below the 17 and left, appearing lower on the surface than the surrounding area, meaning that part of the actual die was slightly raised. The reverse is shattered with several die cracks, especially around the upper right and left branches of the wreath.<BR><BR><B>Appearances. </B></I>The obverse and reverse are illustrated in <I>Penny</B></I> <I>Whimsy</B></I>.<BR><BR><B>Census. </B></I>Noyes calls this coin second finest known, behind a similar VF30 coin that is considered slightly finer based on surface quality. It ranks third finest in the Bland Census, behind the former ANS coin and the Frankenfield specimen.<BR><BR><B>Commentary. </B></I>Sheldon-162 and 163 are from different obverse dies, both with the hair unfinished at the top of the head, from a broken device punch. Breen considered these dies to be the last of the Head of '97, or First Hair Style, made from a broken device punch. He also notes that some other dies made about the same time may have had similar defects hand corrected.<BR><BR><B>Provenance. </B></I><I>Carl Wurtzbach (1948); Dr. William H. Sheldon (4/1972); R.E. Naftzger, Jr.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Personality. Carl Wurtzbach</B></I> was commissioned by Virgil Brand to form the finest cent collection available. He was born in Hargerode, Germany, on May 3, 1864, and died in Lee, Massachusetts, on August 30, 1947. He was employed by the Western Massachusetts Electric Company, the Lee National Bank as its president, and the Lee Library Association. Wurtzbach served as president of the ANA from 1917 to 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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