138 / 280
136
144
1798 S-157 R2 Style I Hair, Small 8. PCGS graded AU-53.
Glossy
light to medium chocolate brown with steel brown toning on the high-
points and frosty lighter brown toning in protected areas. This cent
is choice except for a small area on the upper neck that was rubbed
leaving lighter reddish tan toning at that spot. This cent was struck
from the late, heavily rusted state of the dies, Breen state IV. Both sides
display extensive evidence of die rust, strongest on the right side of
the obverse and inside the wreath. The rust blunted many of the finer
details on the dies and this cent shows only a trace of very light wear
on the highpoints. Noyes and Bland both grade it net EF40, tied for
CC#8 in the Noyes census, his photo #34492.
Our grade is EF45+
sharpness net EF40+
. A very nice cent that comes with an equally
nice provenance. The attribution and Reynolds provenance are shown
on the PCGS Secure label.
Pop 1; 5 finer at PCGS for the variety, 1 in
AU55, 2 in AU58, 1 in MS63, and 1 in MS64
(PCGS # 36035)
Estimated Value........................................................................ $2,500-UP
Ex Robert J. Kissner, Stack’s 6/27/1975:304-C. Douglas Smith-
G. Lee Kuntz, Superior 10/6/1991:178-R. S. Brown, Jr., Superior
1/27/1996:221-Robert C. Clark, Bowers & Merena 2000 ANA Sale, lot
276-Michael Arconti-Walter Reed-Colonel Steven Ellsworth, Heritage
9/27/2013:4672.
145
1798 S-158 R4 Style I Hair, Small 8. PCGS graded AU-58.
Frosty me-
dium brown and light chocolate with lighter brown and tan faded down
from mint color in protected areas, especially on the reverse. No spots or
stains. The only notable marks are a couple dull, shallow scratches hidden
under the E in AMERICA and a tiny diagonal nick on the front edge of
the neck. Nicely struck M-LDS, Breen state V early. The die cracks on both
sides are clear and there is a small but strong cud break on top of the
T in UNITED (but not on the adjacent I as described by Breen).
Apparently an intermediate die state not seen by Breen, but we
have seen a few. The neck and much of the bust are covered
with shallow low spots caused by debris (grease or oil) on
the die. Struck with the obverse die slightly misaligned to
K-11.5 and the reverse rotated 25 degrees CCW. Graded
AU50 Choice and tied for CC#1 honors in the Noyes
census, his photo #28836. Bland says AU50 and tied for
CC#1.
Our grade is AU50 as well
. The attribution and
Reynolds provenance are noted on the PCGS Secure
label.
Pop 1; 1 finer in 63 at PCGS for the variety
(PCGS # 36038)
Estimated Value. ............................................. $10,000-UP
Ex Doug Bird 6/1991.