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Sale 96
Lot 271
1794 S-35 R5 F15+. Sharpness VF25 or slightly better but there are a couple dull scratches in the field before the portrait, and they are visible to the unaided eye. Glossy medium chocolate brown. The reverse is not as glossy as the obverse thanks to extremely faint granularity in the fields and protected areas on that side. No verdigris, and the only other contact marks are a half dozen very fine scratches on the reverse, mostly at the top of the wreath, and a light rim bruise at the second A in AMERICA. M-LDS, Breen state VI, with several prominent die cracks on the obverse and the reverse rotated 30 degrees clockwise. In spite of the flaws this cent offers excellent eye appeal, and it comes with a very impressive history. This is the discovery coin for the die variety, that being accomplished by Edouard Frossard while he was cataloging the collection of George Merritt in 1878. Both sides are plated in the 1879 Frossard Monograph, and the obverse is plated in the 1893 Frossard-Hays reference on the cents of 1794 and in the 1979 Tom Morley reference on grading 1794 cents by die variety (this cent represents the VF20 grade). When William Hays owned the coin he marked the edge two times in white paint with "H53" to identify this cent as the Maris-53 die variety, but some of that marking has flaked away over the decades. Graded VF30 net F15 and tied for CC#6 in the Noyes census, his photo #30767. Bland says VF30 net VF20 and CC#7. The provenance of this cent has been traced back for well over 100 years and it includes numerous famous collectors of large cents; arguably one of the finest provenances ever traced for a large cent. Estimate Value $5,000 - UP
Ex George W. Merritt, Edouard Frossard 1/3/1879:107-Ferguson Haines, W. Elliot Woodward 10/1880:234-William W. Hays 1900-Charles Steigerwalt 1906-Charles Zug-Hays Phelps Sale, Lyman Low 3/7/1907:29-General C. L. Wellington, Lyman Low 1/1913:112-Ebenezer Gilbert, Thomas L. Elder 12/10/1913:33-Dr. George P. French (privately)-Henry C. Hines-Dr. William H. Sheldon-Charles Williams, Numismatic Gallery 11/14/1950:37-Judge Thomas L. Gaskill, New Netherlands Coin Co. (privately) 11/1956-Dorothy Paschal-C. Douglas Smith-Del Bland-Dr. Robert A. Schuman-John W. Adams, Bowers & Ruddy 1982 FPL:27-Del Bland-Donald Petersen, Superior 2/1992:681-James Neiswinter-Chris McCawley 8/1995-Walter J. Husak-Chris McCawley-Chuck Heck Collection.
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| Realized $15,275 |
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