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Lot 151
1792 Cent. Copper or Fusible Alloy. Reeded edge. Judd-2, Pollock-2, Rarity-7. . J-2. PCGS graded VG-10. We don't know if this is a fusible alloy or a copper cent, not that it matters very much. This coin should be tested by an expert in order to properly identify if it is one of the fusible alloy pieces. The idea behind the fusible alloy was Henry Voigt's. He decided that by placing a small amount of silver (like the silver center cents) and mixing it into the copper to make a cent, the size could be greatly reduced. To strike a coin worth one cent of copper, the coin would have been four times as large as this coin. Note the size and weight of the 1792 Birch Cents, and just imagine a few of those clunkers jangling about your pockets. Voigt was onto a good idea, but it wouldn't fully develop until 1856 when the large cents were reduced in size to the Flying Eagles, then reduced again in 1864 to French bronze pieces, and finally in 1982 to a small copper coated zinc planchet in use today. Trouble with Voigt's mixing the silver with the copper, is that you couldn't tell if there was any silver, and the value would then be brought into question. The last thing the new government needed was a scandal, especially trying to pass inflated money (which had frequently happened elsewhere) off on the unsuspecting public. A silver and copper alloy combination would have to wait.
One of the better examples of this extremely important coin known, this 1792 pattern issue was likely struck in December of 1792 at the Philadelphia Mint. It had been proposed to strike three type of cents, and Thomas Jefferson himself wrote to George Washington with information about this early coinage as follows:
"Th. Jefferson has the honor to send the President two cents made on Voigt's plan of putting a silver plug worth three quarters of a cent into a copper worth one quarter of a cent."
"Mr. Rittenhouse is about to make a few by mixing the same plug by fusion with the same quantity of copper. He will then make of copper alone of the same size and lastly he will make the real cent as ordered by Congress, four times as big. Specimens of these several ways of making the cent may now be delivered to the Committee of Congress now having the subject before them."
Thus, the 1792 pattern cents were made in three ways, the famous silver center cents, the fusible alloy with the silver and copper mixed together (or just plain copper), and regular large copper cents. This is the fusible alloy type, possibly only copper, one can't tell without an expert in metallurgy to confirm the presence of the proper amount of silver in the copper planchet.
Sharply struck and well preserved, unlike several others which are corroded or simply not appealing in grade. Clean surfaces and well struck, with familiar dark olive patina in the fields, lighter coppery shades on the devices. Struck with the reverse die rotated 180 degrees from later coinage, so you turn the coin over side to side, instead of top to bottom, and all known specimens show this die alignment. The edge has a raised reed at the center of the edge, although it is hard to see in the PCGS holder. There are some trivial pin scratches near the bust tip and others in the hair, and a very minor edge tap is noted above the second T of STATES. Overall, this coin is pleasant, the surface roughness is familiar to any copper collector, and not too bad as such things go, and the coin has a wonderful appearance to the eye. The date and devices are all strong, and the only weakness is on the ON of ONE at the central reverse.
A list of the known specimens is taken from the Norweb Collection, 11/88:3393:
1). National Collection
2). Norweb, second finest known
3). Garrett: 2348, ex Maris, Seavey (1873)
4). Lauder:234, Bowers and Ruddy's Rare Coin Review, #53 (This Coin)
5). ANA Museum, ex Paramount's Century Sale, 1965:50; Pine Tree 2-21-75:59
6). Harmer-Rooke 11-69; to a private collection, Good to Very Good, porous
7). Lohr (1961); River Oaks, Bowers and Ruddy, 1976:909; Stack's 1-14-87:476, Good, porous
8). Crosby, Plate X, 12, the Appleton-MHS coin, now untraced.
An exciting and historic pattern to own, and certain to be one of the highlights of any collection it graces.
Estimated Value $35,000-UP.
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| Realized $57,500 |
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