117 / 280
115
Breen Plate Coin S-140
116
1797 S-140 R1. PCGS graded AU-55.
Frosty dark steel
brown and chocolate. Satiny mint luster covers the pro-
tected areas on both sides and this cent offers excellent
eye appeal. The only marks, and they are trivial, are a fine
vertical hairline scratch along the hairline left of the eye,
another diagonal one in the field under the hair ribbon, a
small pinprick at the dentils over the O in OF, and another
over the M in AMERICA. None of these marks is visible
without the aid of a good glass. TDS, Breen state IX, with
significant swelling at the bust and S-OF causing serious
weakness in those areas. Both sides also display all the fine
die cracks described in the Breen encyclopedia. In fact this
is the plate coin for the latest die state in the Breen refer-
ence. A great cent. Graded EF45 net EF40 and tied for
CC#6 of the variety in the Noyes census (but finest of the
latest die state), his photo #23130. Bland says EF40 and
tied for CC#9.
Our grade is EF45
. The attribution and
Reynolds provenance are noted on the PCGS Secure label.
Pop 2; 3 finer at PCGS for the variety, 1 in MS61 and 2 in
MS64
(PCGS # 35951)
Estimated Value.................................................... $7,000-UP
Ex Leonard Kusterer-Benjamin H. Levin-Denis Loring
5/11/1984-C. Douglas Smith 3/30/1992-Eric Streiner, Supe-
rior 10/1992:87-Donald Kagin and Andrew Lustig-Robert
W. Miller, Sr.-Bowers & Merena FPls 1993-1994-Bowers &
Merena 11/1994:3357 (not sold)-Bowers & Merena Galler-
ies-Heritage 6/1995:6180 (not sold)-Heritage 8/1995:1005
(not sold)-Heritage 11/1995:14-Bud Lee 3/1997-Daniel
Trollan-Walter Husak, Heritage 1/15/2008:2142.