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

2282

1808 1C XF45 PCGS. S-277, B-1, R.2.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1,300.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1808 1C XF45 PCGS. S-277, B-1, R.2.
<B>1808 1C XF45 PCGS. S-277, B-1, R.2. </B></I> <B>Noyes VF25; CC-20. Photo #35071. Our EAC Grade VF30.<BR><BR>Equivalents. </B></I>Proskey 1A; Doughty 208; McGirk 1A; Clapp 1; EAC 1; <I>Encyclopedia </B></I>1773; PCGS #1543.<BR><B><BR>Variety. </B></I>Date wide and even. Leaf point below right base of F. The obverse appears on S-277. The reverse appears on S-277.<BR><B><BR>Surfaces. </B></I>Attractive olive surfaces have some darker steel-brown mottling, especially in the right obverse field and at the central reverse. Traces of lighter gold iridescence is evident on the reverse. Each side has the usual insignificant marks consistent with the grade, most noticeable between the 1 and 8, and near star 3. Considerable strength is evident at the obverse border closest to 12 o'clock, with the opposing border below the date weak or missing. Most of the reverse border is indistinct due to the late die state.<BR><BR><B>Die State VIII. </B></I>Possibly Breen's Die State IX.<B> </B></I>Smith Die State 7, the latest he recorded. Pete Smith prepared a comprehensive study of Classic Head cents that appeared in an ANS Coinage of the America's Conference study in 1988. The obverse has prominent flowlines, with weakness at stars 1 and 2. Clash marks are evident in the left field. The reverse has flowlines, clash marks, and three heavy cracks. The first reverse crack begins at the border over D, bisects that letter, and arcs up through the inside edge of the wreath to the final S, reaching the border at the right serif of that letter. The second crack branches from the first, follows the inside edge of the upright of the D, crosses three leaves, and disappears within blurred clash marks near the upper left side of the O. A triangular die chip forms between those cracks, inside the D. A third die crack begins in near a leaf below the end of the second crack, crosses the lower right curve of the O and the upper left upright of N, curving through the field over E, and continues through the wreath to the right foot of the first A in AMERICA and on to the border. Breen and Smith both record the third crack as a continuation of the second crack; however, they appear to be unrelated.<BR><BR><B>Census. </B></I>Although a common variety, the S-277 is elusive in top grades. Only about six Mint State examples are known, along with 10 AU coins. Despite the low grade given this coin by Noyes, it is still easily among the two dozen finest examples known.<BR><BR><B>Commentary. </B></I>John Reich's new design appeared on the large cents from 1808 until 1814, and on the half cents from 1809 through 1836. This cataloger wrote in the Eliasberg Catalog that the Classic Head name was an innovation of Kenneth E. Bressett, along with Matron Head and Petite Head, as he sought standard names for the <I>Guide Book</B></I>.<BR><BR><B>Provenance. </B></I><I>Frederic W. Geiss (B. Max Mehl, 6/1947), lot 104, $12.25; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. (Bowers and Merena, 5/1996), lot 531, $1,430.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Personality. Frederic W. Geiss</B></I> of Chicago formed an extensive coin collection that was sold by B. Max Mehl in February 1947. John W. Adams records 116 sales held by Mehl, and 28 of those hold an overall A rating, including the sale of the Geiss Collection. The Geiss Collection rates as one of Mehl's most important sales for large cent collectors, but also carries individual A ratings for proofs, early silver, U.S. gold, private gold, and modern U.S. material.<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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