Lot 177
1856 Flying Eagle Cent. EF-40 but cleaned. This one has been poorly cleaned, and the surfaces show evidence of mishandling. Someone skilled at working with copper could make this one look much better if it was properly retoned. Rare and in demand, this first year of issue of the small cent was enormously popular. Government officials finally responded to years of complaints about the poor condition of the large cents still in circulation and were also trying to rid the public of large numbers of foreign silver coins circulating, many of them counterfeit. The new small cent seemed to be the perfect solution, and in some regards succeed in their quest to produce a uniform (and local) circulating medium. Most of the survivors have been cleaned and mishandled over the years, as these 1856 cents have been collected since their time of issue.
Estimated Value $3,000 - 4,000.
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| Realized $4,485 |
