5039

1801 1C Fine 15 NGC. NC-4, R.7. The Noyes Plate Coin.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1801 1C Fine 15 NGC. NC-4, R.7. The Noyes Plate Coin.
<B>1801<1C> Fine 15 NGC.</B></I> NC-4, R.7. <B>The Noyes Plate Coin.</B></I> Today, there are just eight known examples of this extremely rare and important early cent variety. Del Bland lists eight known examples in his Census, while Bill Noyes lists between six and eight examples, depending on the source consulted. The variety was unknown to Newcomb or his predecessors, and it was not known to Sheldon when he wrote <I>Early American Cents,</B></I> published in 1949. Nor was it listed in Sheldon's initial edition of <I>Penny Whimsy,</B></I> published in 1958, although it should have been. Dr. Sheldon personally cataloged the Charles Dupont large cents, sold by Stack's in 1954, which included an example of this variety. He had reservations about listing this as a new variety due to heavy burnishing of the discovery specimen. When Walter Breen located a second example in 1963, Sheldon finally agreed that the NC-4 is a legitimate variety.<BR> The present example is considered by most to be the finest known of the variety. It is graded VG10 by Bland as listed in <I>Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents</B></I> and VG8 by Noyes in his references. In his reference, <I>United States Large Cents 1793-1814,</B></I> Noyes recorded a Census with the top six coins grading: VG8, VG8, G4, G4, G4, AG3. More recently, he has recorded the top six with grades of: VG8, VG7, G5, G4, G4, AG3. For comparison, Bland listed the top six pieces with grades of: VG10, VG8, G5, G5, G4, G4.<BR> The surfaces are dark steel-brown with some olive color and lighter brown on the devices. Numerous nicks range from microscopic to moderate in size, although only one at Liberty's throat is more noticeable than the others. The surfaces also have slight corrosion, yet all of these blemishes are consistent with the grade. In the 1991 EAC catalog, Noyes graded this coin as VG8, noting that it has the sharpness of a VF coin. Tod