213 / 280
211
Choice Red & Brown 1801 NC-1 Rarity
250
1801 NC-1 R6-. PCGS graded MS-64 Red & Brown.
Beautiful lustrous mint red fading to light olive and steel brown
with about 25% of the original mint color remaining visible on each side. The fields are smooth while the portrait is cov-
ered with uniform microscopic die rust. Apparently the entire obverse was covered with die rust before it was polished
because traces of rust can also be found in the obverse fields, especially before the face. The face of Miss Liberty is not
fully struck, which seems to be typical for this obverse die (see the S-215 offered earlier, which was struck using this
same obverse die). The opposing area at T in CENT into the leaves below is also softly struck (which is also similar to the
S-215). The only notable marks are a thin diagonal nick in the field before the nose and a few spots of darker steel brown
toning. A spot on the truncation over the 8 can help identify this cent. EDS, Breen state I. The die clash at the top of the
reverse is strong and die cracks meander through the tops of TES, but the cud break over those letters has not formed. A
remarkable cent, clearly the finest known of this rare variety by a very wide margin. Graded MS63 and CC#1 by 28 points
in the Noyes census, his photo #21500. Bland says MS65 and CC#1 by 30 points.
Our grade is MS63
. A superior cent
for a superior collection. The attribution and Naftzger-Reynolds provenance are noted on the PCGS Secure label.
Pop 1;
none finer at PCGS for the variety. The only example graded at PCGS
(PCGS # 36258)
Estimated Value .......................................................................................................................................................... $50,000-UP
Ex Francis H. Lee circa 1913-Essex Institute, Stack’s 2/6/1975:148 ($7500)-R. E. Naftzger, Jr., 2/23/1992-Eric Streiner-Jay
Parrino (The Mint) 3/1997 (Includes the Stack’s auction envelope, which also served as the Naftzger collection envelope. On
that envelope Ted included a comment from Norman Stack that reads “Bequeathed to Essex Institute in the 1850’s by a col-
lector named Lee. This coin was marked S-214 at Essex.”).