1811 1/2C Cohen 1, RB MS66RB Certification #27393776, PCGS #35240

CoinFacts Details

Owner's Comments

"R. Tettenhorst's 1811 C1 was the star of the show." - Rick Coleman, Penny-Wise,May 1998 Provenance: Hollis Page; Dr. Thomas Hall Collection; Dr. Thomas Hall Estate, May 1909; Virgil M. Brand, Missouri Cabinet. While this is a very rare date and variety of the type, it also is probably the most beautiful and perfect coin of the type.

Expert Comments

Ron Guth

The second Half Cent to sell for over $1 million was the 1811 Cohen-1 in PCGS MS66RB illustrated above.  This remarkable coin has a pedigree going all the way back to Dr. Thomas Hall in the early 1900s and includes great names such as Virgil Brand, Eric P. Newman, and R. Tettenhorst.  This piece is prooflike and, because of this unusual characteristic, has been considered a presentation strike or a proof in the past.  Suffice it to say that everyone who saw the coin when it came through the grading room at PCGS was impressed, if not stunned. 

By the way, when we say that it is the second Half Cent to sell for over a million dollars, it was denied that record by a remarkable 1794 Half Cent, also from the Missouri Cabinet, that sold just a short time earlier for $1,150,000!

PCGS #
35240
Designer
John Reich
Edge
Plain
Diameter
23.50 millimeters
Weight
5.44 grams
Mintage
63140
Metal
Copper
Pop Higher
0
Pop Lower
0
Region
The United States of America

Condition Census Learn More

Pos Grade Thumbnail Pedigree and History
1 MS66RB PCGS grade MS66RB PCGS grade

In 10/2014, Del Bland matched the Missouri Cabinet coin to the Allison Jackman sale, thus this pedigtee differs from those offered before:

Discovered in 1884, being brought by “an old colored woman” of Alexandria, VA, along with a hoard of Unc. 1828’s - Benjamin H. Collins Collection, sold privately for $3.50 - S.H. & H. Chapman 6/1884:3125, $67 - Robert S. Hatcher - Allison W. Jackman Collection - Henry Chapman 6/1918:879, $145 - S.H. Chapman - Howard Rounds Newcomb Collection - B. Max Mehl - Col. E.H.R. Green Collection - Burdette G. Johnson (St. Louis Stamp & Coin) - Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society - Missouri Cabinet (Mocab 11.1.6) - Goldbergs 1/2014:102, $1,121,250 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack's/Bowers & Sotheby's 3/2017:5067, $998,750
MS66RB PCGS grade #1 MS66RB PCGS grade

In 10/2014, Del Bland matched the Missouri Cabinet coin to the Allison Jackman sale, thus this pedigtee differs from those offered before:

Discovered in 1884, being brought by “an old colored woman” of Alexandria, VA, along with a hoard of Unc. 1828’s - Benjamin H. Collins Collection, sold privately for $3.50 - S.H. & H. Chapman 6/1884:3125, $67 - Robert S. Hatcher - Allison W. Jackman Collection - Henry Chapman 6/1918:879, $145 - S.H. Chapman - Howard Rounds Newcomb Collection - B. Max Mehl - Col. E.H.R. Green Collection - Burdette G. Johnson (St. Louis Stamp & Coin) - Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society - Missouri Cabinet (Mocab 11.1.6) - Goldbergs 1/2014:102, $1,121,250 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack's/Bowers & Sotheby's 3/2017:5067, $998,750