The Collectors' Auction 2008
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Please Note: A 15% Buyers' Premium is added to the hammer price of all lots in this sale.
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(About The Images)
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Lot Title:
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1791 Washington Large Eagle Cent, Baker-15, Breen-1206, D & H Middlesex 1048. PCGS MS-63 BN.
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Description:
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Hoping to obtain a contract from the young United States government to mint copper coins, W. and Alexander Walker, a firm in Birmingham England, commissioned John Gregory Hancock to design a copper cent for the fledgling new United States. Hancock (1775-1815), a child prodigy engraver, had begun creating dies for Conder tokens as early as the age of nine, and several of his tokens engraved while he was still a teenager honor George Washington and are listed in chapter fourteen of the Breen Encyclopedia. Hancock designed two different cents, both bearing an outstanding obverse portrait of Washington, and either a small or large eagle motif on the reverse. Washington's spokesman rejected the obverse design on the colonial cents, citing them as being "too monarchical", and noting that the Mint Act of April 2, 1792 specifically called for art emblematic of "Liberty" on young America's coinage.
The green label PCGS holder identifies the current offering as the Large Eagle type. Washington's bust faces left on the obverse, above the date of 1791, and flanked by the legend WASHINGTON PRESIDENT. On the reverse, an American eagle with dropped wings holds a scroll in its beak bearing the legend UNUM E PLURIBUS, and it is overlaid with a shield displaying thirteen vertical pales, though not the usual chief azure (horizontal lines). The denomination ONE CENT appears above the eagle's head. An olive branch, signifying peace, is in the left talon, and in the right is a bundle of thirteen arrows. The olive branch and arrows respectively denote the power of "peace and war" which is exclusively vested in our Congress.
Pleasing mint luster, generously attenuated by the thickly original brown patina, imbues this example with terrific eye appeal, despite the routine grade of MS-63 BN. A little original copper-red color furtively rests between the vertical shield lines, with dusky honey-gold luster also peeping from between peripheral letters and devices. Delightfully struck, the highpoint details display none of the cabinet friction usually expected of the grade, and a lack of carbon flecks or handling marks certainly seem to imply a better grade than that assigned by PCGS. Colonial collectors are well advised to take note of the opportunity offered here to obtain one of the most popular examples of Colonial Washington numismatica.
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Low Estimate:
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$3,500.00 |
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High Estimate:
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$3,800.00 |
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Lot Status:
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Bidding has been closed for this lot. |
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Hammered Price: |
$3,600.00
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Price Realized:
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$4,140.00 |
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Price history for items of the same classification:
No history for this lot classification has been found. |