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[L#0101] 1858/7 FE1c NGC MS65

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:24,000.00 USD Estimated At:40,000.00 - 55,000.00 USD
[L#0101] 1858/7 FE1c NGC MS65
Extraordinary quality for an overdate 1858 Flying Eagle Cent, a coin with characteristic sharp detail on the eagle's breast feathers as well as the key areas of the tail separation and beak, eye, nasal opening. Consistent with the sharp obverse, a reverse with equal impressive detail, including the wreath bow and upper leaves which appear at first glance to be oak leaves. The broken wingtip is a hallmark of the overdate. Traces of an underlying 7 visible above and to right of the trailing 8.

The government's imminent approval of a statute to alter the amalgam of the Cent in 1856 left Mint Director Snowden pleading for a design to begin trial strikings without delay. The task of achieving a satisfactory product in this environment fell to James Barton Longacre. For the obverse, the designer selected a variant of the flying eagle that graced the reverse of the 1836-9 Gobrecht Pattern Dollars. Although nearly two decades old, this eagle hadn't faded into obscurity; it had appeared on several Patterns of 1854-5. The reverse got a copy of the wreath of corn, cotton, maple, and tobacco that already appeared on Longacre's Dollar and $3 Gold pieces. Despite the short production run of this design, the rarity and allure of 1858/7 insures that it will remain forever a part of the collecting lore and popularity. Coin is housed in NGC holder 1293313-002, and will likely become a part of a high-end set of Flying Eagle and Indian cents, or perhaps take its rightful place in a Registry set of these!