LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Jan. FUN Signature Coin Auction #454  / 

3508

1877 1C Cent--Struck on a Venezuela One Centavo

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:48,750.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1877 1C Cent--Struck on a Venezuela One Centavo
<B>1877 1C Indian Cent--Struck on a Venezuela One Centavo Planchet--MS61 NGC.</B></I> 2.3 gm. Judd-1496, Pollock-1649, R.8. Not a true pattern but a mint error, this fascinating piece made its way into the two major pattern references due to its appearance, which is suggestive of a deliberately struck off-metal pattern. Later research revealed the truth, though the most recent edition of Judd maintains the listing for this singular item. While the Philadelphia Mint did not strike any contract coinage for Venezuela in 1877, a legacy copper-nickel planchet from the previous year's production of one centavo coins somehow mixed in with the bronze blanks for cents and was struck. The result was this fascinating specimen.<BR> The feathers of the headdress are weak at the tips, owing to the underweight nature of the planchet, and the lower part of the wreath is similarly ill-defined. By contrast, the soft lower right corner of the N in ONE is a diagnostic for this important issue. Occasional sage accents grace the otherwise nickel-gray surfaces.<BR> Any Uncirculated 1877 cent is highly desirable due to its status as a low mintage key date. Finding such an example struck on a foreign planchet is an opportunity unlikely to surface again.<BR><I>Ex: Bowers and Merena 2003 Baltimore ANA Auction, lot 3158.</B></I><BR><BR><B>Coin Engraver:</B> James B. Longacre<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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