1807 1C S-271 "Comet", BN MS(PCGS#36454)

August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1052

等级

MS64BN

价格

216,748

详细说明

Popular 1807 S-271 "Comet" Variety Cent The Eliasberg-ESM Specimen Tied for CC#9 1807 Draped Bust Cent. S-271. Rarity-1. "Comet" Variety. MS-64 BN (PCGS). CAC. Type:Draped Bust. Design: Obv: A draped bust of Liberty faces right with the word LIBERTY above and the date 1807 below. Liberty's hair is tied with a ribbon, the ends of which are plainly evident at the back of the head. Rev: A wreath surrounds the denomination ONE CENT, the base of the wreath bound by a ribbon tied into a bow. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around the border and another expression of the denomination 1/100 is below. Weight Standard: 10.89 grams. Diameter: 29 mm. Die Variety: Sheldon-271, Breen-1. Obv: Blunt 1 in the date, the 18 more widely spaced than the other digits. The letters in LIBERTY are relatively widely spaced, ER distant from one another and even at their bases. S-271 represents the only use of this obverse die. Rev: Small Fraction and Letters, the U in UNITED distant from the ribbon end, the point of a leaf under the left side of the upright of the letter D in the same word. This reverse die also appears in the S-272 and S-273 pairings. S-271 is the only die marriage that corresponds to the "Comet" Variety Guide Booklisting of the 1807 Draped Bust cent. Die State: Noyes F/A, Breen V. Obv: Numerous die flaws are evident in the field around the portrait, most prominently the "comet" flaw at the back of the head above the ribbon ends. A nearly horizontal die break on Liberty's neck extends back to the hair, and there are at least four sets of clash marks in the field around the ribbon ends and before Liberty's chin and throat. Rev: Perfect. Edge: Plain. Mintage: The Guide Bookprovides a mintage for this issue of 829,221 coins, which represents three quarterly deliveries of cents during calendar year 1807, plus the first quarter's delivery during calendar year 1808, as follows: -First quarter 1807 = 264,000 coins -Second quarter 1807 = 225,221 coins -Fourth quarter 1807 = 238,000 coins -First quarter 1808 = 102,000 coins As usual in the Draped Bust cent series, the actual number of coins struck from 1807-dated dies is unknown and can only be estimated. For example, many of the coins delivered during calendar year 1807 may have been from earlier-dated dies, perhaps as early as 1803, and the actual date(s) of the coins struck during the first quarter of 1808 was not recorded. No cents were delivered during the third quarter of 1807. Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety: Rarity-1: More than 1,500 coins in all grades. Strike: Sharply struck overall with weakness only on a few leaves in the wreath. The border is narrower at the upper left obverse and upper right reverse than elsewhere, the result of a slightly off center impression from the dies. Surfaces: Lovely light olive patina with a frosty texture and wisps of original golden-orange color remaining on both sides. A faint obverse pin scratch arcs up to the left in the field from the curls near the base of Liberty's portrait to behind the ribbon ends. A second wispy scratch from the border at 2 o'clock to Liberty's eye, a pair of tiny carbon spots on the cheek aligned with the earlobe, and a splash of darker steel-brown toning on the reverse at the letters TED in UNITED. Aside from these trivial features, the surfaces on both sides are virtually flawless. Commentary: We are not aware of the origins of the "Comet" nickname, although S.H. Chapman noted this is "commonly called the Comet variety" in his April 1923 Beckwith Collection catalog. Earlier, in the June 1890 Lorin G. Parmelee Collection, David U. Proskey and Harlan P. Smith simply noted that this variety has a "bar-like defect in die from hair to [left] border," with no reference to a celestial apparition. Further, large cent researcher Denis Loring notes that the Chapman brothers made no mention of the "Comet" designation in their 1882 Bushnell Collection catalog. The brothers' 1895 Winsor Collection described this as "1807 Comet variety," which may very well be the first appearance of this now popular nickname in print. Craig Sholley, quoted in the 2015 edition of the Noyes large cent reference, identifies the exact nature of the die flaw that gives this variety its nickname: "Comet and all flaws are caused by the delamination of bad steel in the die. Technically a comet is a 'stringer.' Basically a void in steel that filled with dirt or dross that delaminates and sinks with use." The diagnostic "comet" flaw is present to one degree or another in all but the earliest states of the S-271 dies, Breen I and II, the former called "comet eclipsed" and described as, "Usually in low grades and very rare in Fine or better." Fortunately for collectors seeking an example of this popular Guide Bookvariety, later die states with the "comet" flaw plainly evident are plentiful in most circulated grades. There are a number of About Uncirculated coins extant, and even several Mint State survivors, although the latter are rare. The ESM specimen is among the finest known, tied for CC#9 in the Bland census with an EAC grade of AU-50, also tied for CC#9 in the 2015 Noyes census and graded AU50(MS60) Average. The plate coin for this variety in the Breen large cent encyclopedia is incorrectly identified as the present example. Provenance: From the ESM Collection. Earlier ex Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, May 1996, lot 528; Walter Husak; Heritage's sale of the Walter Husak Collection, February 2008, lot 2276. PCGS Population: 3; 1 finer in this category (MS-65 BN). PCGS also reports two grading events in MS-65 RB. PCGS# 36454. Click here for certification details from PCGS.