Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents

Obverse 10.

Reverse H. Thin heart-shaped bow and ribbons. No outer trefoil on the left branch. Extra long, curved fraction bar. A and E are above adjacent letters in STATES. Top of N is below adjacent O-E. CE NT is divided with N leaning left and T lower. No photographically available survivor is sharp enough to permit a complete description.

Die states: No apparent deterioration.

Equivalents: Frossard 10. (Editor's note: Frossard described and illustrated this variety, discovered only two years earlier, and failed to mention our number 14, which had been known for at least 10 years.) Proskey 6. Doughty 6. Crosby 5-E. McGirk 2B. Sheldon NC-3. EAC 15. Encyclopedia 1643.

Rarity 8. Three known, a fourth reported.

Remarks: Apparently discovered by John Walter Scott in 1877 and first offered in Scott's sale of October 23-24, 1877, lot 201:

1793 Wreath. 'Stars and stripes' on edge. With three clover leaves and blossom under bust. Fair condition, but date and legend perfectly distinct. Unique, both obverse (sic) and reverse being from a different die to the one described by S. S. Crosby, Esq.

The obverse was illustrated on the Scott catalogue plate. H. G. Sampson bought it for $77.50 while J. N. T. Levick was the underbidder at $75 for Crosby. (This is from Levick's priced and named copy of the Scott catalogue, now in ANS. See the account in Penny- Wise, no. 11, 3/15/1969, p. 56.) Proskey described obverses of his 5 and 6 (our numbers 14 and 15) as differing in the position of the top of forehead: respectively below the center of R and between ER. This apparent difference arises from the low grades of the examples he was studying.

At Frossard's sale, December 19-20, 1894, Lyman H. Low called Frossard "a liar" for some statement about the specimen of this variety offered as lot 700; Frossard hit him. In the ensuing fight, both dealers rolled around the auction floor trying to kick each other, and Harlan P. Smith lost a diamond pin in the confusion incidental to separating them. (A fuller account is in Carl W. A. Carlson, "Strawberry Leaves and Shiners," Numismatist, November 1978, pp. 2254-56, based partly on Augustus G. Heaton's remonstrance (Numismatist, January 1895, p. 20) and partly on Steigerwalt's Messenger, May 1911, quoted in Edgar Adams's. Numismatist column, May 1911, p. 184. For another account, see John W. Adams, Penny-Wise, no. 84, 5/15/1981, p. 145.)

The variation in planchet size is remarkable, and suggests that the known specimens were either struck on different occasions or (more likely) that they were made on miscellaneous leftover blanks. This givescolor to the conjecture quoted at number 14 that they might have comprised the odd 176 specimens delivered July 17, at the very end of the Wreath type, after the Lettered Edges.

During the 1950s, there were repeated rumors that a "VF" specimen, of Scandinavian provenance, had been shown to some members of the New York Numismatic Club. I have been unable to locate anyone who actually saw the piece. This may be a reappearance of the coin advertised by A. E. Marks of Woodfords, Maine, (Numismatist, July 1893, p. 123. Del Bland has identified this as the George W. Merritt coin, which he grades AG-3.) as follows: "1793 Cent. Strawberry leaves and blossom over date; much better than the Parmelee cent. $100." No other information is available.

Condition Census:

VG-7 Scott & Co. 10/1877: 201 $77.50 • H. G. Sampson • Lorin G. Parmelee • New York Coin & Stamp Co. 61 1890: 671 $79 • Chas. Steigerwalt, 10/17/1890 • Dr. Thomas Hall, 9/7/1909 • Virgil M. Brand, 2/7/1941 • B. G. Johnson (St. Louis Stamp & Coin Co.), 5/17/1941 $2,500 • James Kelly $2,750 • Richard J. Staples. Obverse illustrated in the 1879 Frossard Monograph. Obverse and reverse illustrated in The United States Coinage of 1793 by Sylvester S. Crosby (1897). Obverse illustrated in A Guidebook of United States Coins (50 editions). Scott called this coin "Fair," Steigerwalt graded it "Fine," and Kelly described it as "VF."

AG-3 Discovered in Philadelphia by William Rabin and advertised by him on page 736 of the 9/1941 issue of The Numismatist for $2,500 • James Kelly 5/1949: 1044 $1,250 • Floyd T. Starr • Stack's 6/1984: 7 $51,700 • I. Tatnall Starr, 6/12/1989 • R. E. Naftzger, Jr., 2/23/1992 • Eric Streiner • Jay Parrino (The Mint), 10/7/1995 • Anthony Terranova, 10/16/1995 • Daniel W. Holmes, Jr. 207.4 grains. Obverse and reverse illustrated in Noyes.

AG-3 George W. Merritt • Ed. Frossard 1/1879: 90 $45.50 • Ferguson Haines • W. Elliot Woodward #32, 10/ 1880: 189 $60 • H. G. Sampson • Ferguson Haines. S. H. & H. Chapman 10/1888: 846 withdrawn • Ferguson Haines • Ed. Frossard #130, 12/1894: 700 $120 • J. Sanford Saltus, 5/16/1906 • ANS. Reverse illustrated in the 1879 Frossard Monograph and in The Standard Catalogue of United States Coins, Wayte Raymond, editor (various editions). Obverse and reverse illustrated in the 1914 ANS Exhibition Catalogue, in Early American Cents, and in Penny Whimsy.

No other examples are currently identified.