Lot 197
1848 Small Date Fantasy Cent Rarity-7- PCGS graded VF20. Glossy uniform medium chocolate brown. The surfaces are smooth, void of any trace of corrosion or roughness. There are some nicks scattered over both sides; the best identifying marks are a tiny rim nick just past star 4 and two horizontal nicks over EN in CENT. There is no trace of an undertype or of multiple strikes (as often seen on this variety). Evenly struck with the dies slightly misaligned: the obverse off a bit to K-2 and the reverse off center a bit less to K-10. The dies are nearly in proper head-to-foot orientation with only a minor CCW rotation for the reverse. The weight is 159.7 grains. Our grade is F12, tied for CC#3 of the 11 examples known of this extremely rare and popular privately struck "cent." Among those 11 known examples only two grade higher than F12 in the Noyes and Grellman census lists. The finest known piece, a PCGS graded AU55 (our grade net VF35 for recoloring) brought $12,075 as lot #900 in our auction of the Ted Naftzger late date large cents on 7 September 2009. Howard Newcomb devoted a couple pages in his book on the series to the "Small Date" 1848 cent, and most of the top collections have contained at least one example. Noyes photo #30104. This is the discovery piece for the "variety" and it comes with one of the most distinguished provenances for any large cent. The attribution and COL Ellsworth Collection provenance are noted on the PCGS label. PCGS population 1; 2 finer: 1 in 53, 1 in 55. Estimated Value $7,000 - UP
Ex J. N. T. Levick, Bangs Merwin & Company 5/1865:1431-unknown-Edward Cogan 11/1871:273-Lorin G. Parmelee, New York Coin & Stamp Company 6/1890:1196-Peter Mougey, Thomas L. Elder #43, 9/1910:251 (withdrawn from the sale by Elder and sold privately)-David Proskey-Henry C. Hines-Homer K. Downing, 1952 ANA Sale, New Netherlands Coin Company #38, 8/16/1952:2207-Floyd T. Starr, Stack's 6/13/1984:596-Jack H. Robinson, Superior 1/29/1989:1461-R. S. Brown, Jr., McCawley & Grellman Auctions/Superior 6/2/2002:661 ($6900)-Colonel Steven K. Ellsworth Collection (includes the Brown collection envelope and last 2 lot tickets).
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| Realized $6,000 |
