Lot 39
1796 Edwards Copy Kenny-1 Rarity 7-. PCGS graded MS-67 Red & Brown. Choice highly lustrous bluish steel brown with faded red covering the protected areas, about 20% of the original color remaining. The only defects, and they are trivial, are a small spot of reddish brown toning in the field over the tip of the pole and a tiny, dull struck-through line at the dentils left of the lower curls, as struck. Our grade is MS66. An outstanding example, probably the finest known. Weight 92.4 grains. NOTE: The Edwards copies of the 1796 half cent were struck using hand-made dies on rolled copper planchets that are a bit thinner than the genuine version. The workmanship is of good quality and the resulting design is a fairly accurate representation of the genuine article. These were struck sometime prior to 1865 by Dr. Frank Smith Edwards of New York, and the first auction appearance came in 1866. After the death of Dr. Edwards in 1865, Edward Cogan wrote that he had destroyed the dies and all but 12 of the remaining specimens. Dr. Edwards' collection was sold in an auction conducted by Bangs, Merwin & Company in October 1865, and none of these copies was included in that sale. The first appearance of one of his copies in an auction occurred in 1866. These copies are highly sought and seldom appear for sale, so the reported "mintage" of 12 specimens appears to accurately represent the number of examples that escaped destruction, although we do not know how many were actually struck. Presently we can trace 11 examples, and that total has not changed in quite a few years. They are mentioned briefly in a note following the 1796 half cents on page 92 in the "Redbook." The attribution and Missouri Cabinet provenance are shown on the PCGS label. PCGS population 1; the finest graded. (PCGS # 397326) .
Estimated Value $20,000-UP.
Ex F. C. C. Boyd (privately)-New Netherlands Coin Co.-Miami Rare Coin Company 9/6/1952:6-Willard C. Blaisdell-Delmar N. (Del) Bland-Rare Coin Gallery of Seattle-Delmar N. (Del) Bland-James R. McGuigan-R. Tettenhorst-Missouri Cabinet (Mocab 96.3.3).
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| Realized $37,950 |
