Lot 116
1793 S-2 R4+ Chain AMERICA AU58. Lustrous light olive brown and steel with faded red peeking through in protected areas on both sides. No spots or signs of contact. The only marks are some microscopic planchet chips in the field behind the portrait, all as struck, and a very subtle splash of slightly darker toning near the rim left of the middle curls. This Chain Cent offers exceptional eye appeal, but a glass reveals that the field outside the link of chains may have been very lightly smoothed. Some have speculated that the highpoints of the Ms Liberty's hair also may have been delicately smoothed, but we feel this is doubtful. The highest points of the hair at the ear and along the neck appear to be flat from the strike, not from friction. The remainder of the obverse shows no hint of smoothing and the frosty luster remains unbroken. Curiously, this cent used to be housed in a PCGS MS63 Red & Brown holder, and it was sold in that holder in the Auction '89, Auction '90, Heritage 10/1990, and Bowers & Merena 1/1993 sales (see the provenance data below). At that time this was the only 1793 Chain Cent of any die variety that had been graded Mint State by PCGS. Why it was removed from that holder remains a mystery, and PCGS has refused to reholder it at the original grade. The lot descriptions and accompanying photos of this cent in the four sale catalogs suggest the coin has not changed in any way. Del Bland lists this piece as the only true mint state example of the variety in his census (which is the same condition census that is listed in the Breen encyclopedia). Noyes feels it was lightly smoothed and lists it as net AU50, tied for CC#6 in his census (his photo #35070). We settled on net AU58, but this beautiful cent certainly has choice mint state eye appeal and may deserve a mint state grade. LDS, Breen state II, with clear die clashmarks in the field below the truncation and a very subtle wave through the bases of the 793. This is the plate coin for the variety in Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of United States Large Cents 1793-1814 (although the caption under those photos indicates the die state is Breen-I when it is clearly Breen-II). Estimated Value $100,000-UP
Ex Frederick C. C. Boyd 1957-New Netherlands Coin Co. #50, 12/6/1957:881-Corrado Romano, Stack's 6/1987:145-Martin Paul, Superior 1/1988:50-Martin Paul-Dr. Kenneth Baer, Auction '89 (David Akers) 7/8/1989:1003 (as PCGS MS63 Red & Brown)-American Rare Coin Fund LP (Hugh Sconyers, manager)-Auction '90 (Superior) 8/11/1990:1007 (as PCGS MS63 Red & Brown)-Martin Haber, Heritage 10/1990:453 (as PCGS MS63 Red & Brown)-unknown-Bowers & Merena 1/7/1993:217 (as PCGS MS63 Red & Brown)-unknown-Superior Stamp & Coin Co. (privately)-Spectrum Numismatics 9/1996-Walter Husak, Heritage 2/15/2008:2001.
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