Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents

Obverse 26. Left top and base of Y have serifs broken off with the base crudely corrected. Top of date almost straight: "high 98."

Reverse AA. Type of 1799. E(D) and E(S) are normal. In STATES, (A)T leans right and the bases of ES are slightly high. In AMERICA, E is inverted (rotated 180°), then corrected. c(E) has its serif of normal form but more pointed than usual. Uand F are repunched. The outer leaf pair below (N)T overlaps the wreath stem. Minute center dot.

Edge: Plain edge (PE).

Die states: I. Clash marks on both sides. Without the die flaws of states II and III.

II. Faint flaw from hair to between the bases of IB, later extending to the tops of these letters. Die chip in the field below L. Triple clash marks. Clapp 29-BB.

III. Reverse die chips near the top and bottom of final s. Clapp 29-BBb.

IV. Both dies are repolished to remove clash marks. Bulge develops left of the lowest curl (at first faint). The rim crumbles above ME.

V. Severe new obverse clash marks. Equivalents: Doughty 135. Proskey 27. McGirk 19A. Clapp 39. Sheldon 179. EAC 37. Encyclopedia 1731.

High Rarity 1.

Remarks: The position of this variety is guesswork; it might as easily have followed numbers 26, 30, 33, 34, or 40.

Clapp did not recognize this reverse as belonging to his "0" group.

Condition Census:

MS-65 Stack's, privately 12/1983 • Herman Halpern, 8/28/86 • C. Douglas Smith. Fred H. Borcherdt.

MS-63 With a tiny planchet defect below the eye. Purchased in 8/1891 from F. W. Lincoln (W. S. Lincoln & Son, Lon-don) by Benjamin H. Collins, 1/30/1919 • Dr. Henry W. Beckwith • S. H. Chapman 4/1923: 18 $56 • Elmer S. Sears • Howard R. Newcomb • J. C. Morgenthau & Co. #458, 2/1945: 253 $60 • James Kelly • Standish Hall • Hollinbeck Stamp and Coin Co. FPL #25, 1947: 17 $75 • Sheraton Coin Co. • 1947 ANA (Numismatic Gallery #40): 847 $90 • T. James Clarke • Dr. William H. Sheldon, 4/19/1972 • R. E. Naftzger, Jr., 2/23/1992 • Eric Streiner • Jay Parrino (The Mint) • unknown • Superior Stamp & Coin 9/1997: 50 $24,200 • Thomas D. Reynolds. Obverse illustrated in Clapp. Obverse and reverse illustrated in Early American Cents and in Penny Whimsy.

MS-63 Pierre-Edouard LeGras (Paris) • Ed. Frossard • Ed. Frossard #25, 11/1882: 184 $10.25 • T. Harrison Garrett • Robert Garrett, 1919 • John Work Garrett • Johns Hopkins University • Bowers and Ruddy Galleries 11/1979: 91 $18,000 • Stanley Kesselman, 12/29/ 1980 • R. E. Naftzger, Jr., 2/23/1992 • Eric Streiner. Obverse and reverse illustrated in Noyes.

MS-61 C. David Pierce • Dr. William H. Sheldon. T. James Clarke • R. E. Naftzger, Jr. • New Netherlands Coin Co. 11/1973: 494 $3,400 • Rare Coin Company of America • Dennis Forgue, 7/29/1981 • Thomas E. Werner, 7/29/1984 • Denis W. Loring, 5/1985 • Dr. Philip W. Ralls.

AU-55 From England • John Saunders • Anthony Terranova. unknown • 1989 ANA (Bowers and Merena): 8 $9,900 • Thomas D. Reynolds. State III.

AU-55 William Van Roden • Stack's 5/1968: 215 $360 • unknown. American Auction Association 6/1975: 162 $700. Manfra, Tordella & Brookes.

AU-50 John G. Mills • S. H. & H. Chapman 4/1904: 1257 $16 • George H. Earle, Jr. • Henry Chapman 6/1912: 3410 $13.50 • John H. Oapp, 2/6/1942 • Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. • Bowers and Merena 5/1996: 508 $9,900 • Thomas D. Reynolds.

AU-50 Ira S. Reed, 2/24/1940 • Judge Thomas L. Gaskill • New Netherlands Coin Co., privately 11/1956 • Dorothy Paschal, 7/1975 • Myles Z. Gerson, 11/1977 • Dr. Philip W. Ralls, 7/23/1987 • G. Lee Kuntz. Superior Galleries 10/1991: 201 $1,760 • John R. Frankenfield.

AU-50 George H. Oapp, 3/31/1949 • Carnegie Institute.

AU-50 Homer K. Downing, 12/24/1950 • C. Douglas Smith.

AU-50 Homer K. Downing • 1952 ANA (New Netherlands Coin Co. #38): 1833 $48 • E. M. Seneca, Jr.