Lot 454
1818 14-Stars with Continuous Wreath Reverse. Struck "Counterfeit" from handmade dies. G6. Double Struck Obverse. Nice glossy chocolate and medium brown with a splash of reddish brown under CE in CENT. Struck from crudely-made dies that approximate the normal Matron Head design, but there are 14 stars on the obverse, the wreath is continuous, and there is no fraction at the bottom of the reverse. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA begins at 1:00. That places the U in UNITED is where one would expect to find the O in OF. The obverse was double struck with an offset of no more than a millimeter between the two strikes. It should be noted that all three of the examples known (and all have been studied by this cataloger) have a double struck obverse. However, all show a different rotation or shift between impressions (so we know the die itself was not doubled). None of the three show evidence of being double struck on the reverse. Comparable to the famous 1848 Small Date struck counterfeit cents, although far more of the 1848 cents are known. The reverse details are much sharper than those on the obverse, as usual. The dies are perfectly aligned head-to-foot, similar to the regular Federal cents. A clear radial die crack extends from the rim between stars 11 & 12 into the field under the hairbun. (See page 360 of the November 2000 issue of Penny-Wise for a discussion of this interesting oddball.) The provenance of this example can be traced back to the sale of the Maris Collection sold by H. P. Smith on 21 June 1886 where it was offered as lot #284 and the reverse was plated. Weight 143.9 grains. DWH #1930.
Estimated Value $3,000-UP.
Ex Tony Terranova 3/31/2001.
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| Realized $9,775 |
