Magnificent cash from a rare assortment of huge cents that includes each one of many Sheldon quantity varieties from 1796 via 1814 will land in new collections when they’re bought January 9 within the Heritage Auctions sale of The COL Steven K. Ellsworth Collection of U.S. Large Cents 1796-1814 U.S. Coins Signature Auction as a part of the FUN Conference in Orlando, Florida.
“1796 was a transitional 12 months in American numismatics,” says Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. “That was the 12 months the Mint switched from the Liberty Capped Bust design to the Draped Bust design. This assortment begins with the Draped Bust cash, and lots of the cash are the best identified, or not less than one of many best identified examples.”
A collector since he was in center faculty, Ellsworth is considered one of “essentially the most celebrated collectors of those early massive cent varieties,” a longtime numismatist who enjoys a broad attain inside the gathering neighborhood.
“Again when these cash had been minted, they had been the folks’s cash,” Ellsworth stated in a 2022 interview with PCGS. “These one-cent cash are what folks used to purchase bread, horseshoes and the opposite issues that individuals used to purchase. If you happen to had a silver greenback or a $2.50 gold piece, you had been carrying some huge cash. However massive cents had been spent on all the pieces, and a few of these cash noticed 1000’s of makes use of … In some instances the finest-known instance of a sure selection could also be AG3 or G4. Something XF or over might be exceedingly uncommon.”
Important highlights from the Ellsworth Assortment of Giant Cents embrace, however should not restricted to:
- A 1799 S-189 R2 XF45 PCGS, CAC Approved — the well-known “Abbey” cent — has a provenance of 180 years, one of many longest unbroken possession chains for a U.S. massive cent. Extra importantly, it’s the best that CAC has accredited, and has been referred to as a very powerful 1799 cent. The “Abbey” cent moniker might be traced again to the truth that considered one of its earliest house owners was Lorenzo H. Abbey, a coin collector in the course of the nineteenth century. In numismatics, it’s a uncommon distinction to be remembered for a single coin, one usually reserved for extraordinary items just like the 1804 silver greenback or the 1913 Liberty Nickel.
- An 1801 S-217 R6+ AU58 PCGS is the best identified instance of this very uncommon selection, despite slight imperfections. Included within the coin’s provenance are stints within the collections of Dr. William H. Sheldon, Barney William “Barney” Bluestone, and Walter J. Husak.
- A 1798 S-178 R5+, Style II Hair, Reverse of 1795, VF35 PCGS is the invention coin for the range, first recognized by Philadelphia massive cent collector James A. Walker, who joined the ANA in 1909, previous to 1913. Either side had been plated on web page 305 within the June 1913 subject of The Numismatist in an article by Dr. Charles E. McGirk asserting the brand new selection. That is the plate coin for the range within the Breen encyclopedia and within the 1991 Noyes reference.
- An 1803 S-264 R4+, Large Date, Small Fraction, VF20 PCGS is a sharply struck, properly detailed instance of this traditional rarity, a “Well-known 4” selection that is without doubt one of the keys to a “Pink Guide” set of early cents. It’s the plate coin for the range within the 2000 Breen encyclopedia, and comes with a pleasant provenance. It’s considered one of simply two graded in VF20, with simply three others carrying larger grades.
- An 1810 S-285 R2 MS66 Red & Brown PCGS comes with an unbroken provenance that may be traced again for greater than a century, a provenance that features a number of of the “heavy hitters:” within the historical past of huge cent gathering, together with Colonial collector Hillyer C. Ryder, who was the writer of The Colonial Cash of Vermont and The Copper Cash of Massachusetts, which had been revealed within the American Journal of Numismatics in 1919. Each sequence are nonetheless attributed by Ryder numbers. He served the Putnam County Nationwide Financial institution for greater than 50 years and signed Nationwide foreign money because the cashier of that financial institution, and was a member of the New York Numismatic Membership and the American Numismatic Affiliation.
The Ellsworth catalog was written by Heritage senior numismatist Mark Borckardt and Bob Grellman of Heritage’s partner-firm for this occasion, Early Cents Auctions.
Pictures and details about all heaps in The COL Steven Ok. Ellsworth Assortment of U.S. Giant Cents 1796-1814 US Cash Signature Public sale might be discovered at HA.com/1369.
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