“With the close attention paid to the dies of the 1794 cents, it is strange that the half cents of the same date have been neglected.” — Charles Steigerwalt, The Curio, April, 1908 A chocolate brown gem swathed in abundant cartwheel luster, this coin’s pristine surfaces rank it among the very finest survivors of this design type. The luster alone places this among the top echelon of 1794 half cents, with unbroken frosty cartwheel so prominent as to be the defining characteristic of both sides. The rich toning is ideal, medium brown across the fields and lightens just enough inside the denticles to suggest the mint color faded there last. The image of Liberty on the obverse is among the most beautiful ever rendered by an engraver working at the U.S. Mint, with a rounded cheek, lifted eyes, and locks that flow as if blown by a perfectly choreographed burst of wind. Some subtle softness of strike is seen on the highest relief of the central device, on Liberty’s brow, a few curls, and the raised edge of the bust truncation. Such softness is common to every specimen, a by-product of the depth of the dies rather than the insufficiency of the strike. Around the obverse periphery from 12:00 to 3:00, some planchet texture remains, not fully obliterated at the moment of striking. No significant marks are seen, just a single tiny tick on the rim near 3:00 and a few points of contact on Liberty’s nose. The reverse is essentially perfect, with beautiful light color, resounding luster, no post-striking marks of any consequence, no noticeable planchet defects, a firm strike, and superb detail. This is the image of what a 1794 half cent should look like and the standard against which others should be judged. With its remarkable evenness, originality, and appeal, this coin will rank high on the lists of those connoisseurs who value surface quality and luster highly but are less concerned with the presence of mint color. Benjamin Collins perhaps said it best, writing in The Numismatist of April 1924 about what makes an early copper perfect: “any fixed color, light olive preferred, though black or dark very acceptable. Red secondary which, though beautiful, will not stay put.” Chosen by Breen to illustrate his die state III, this specimen shows two distinct sets of clash marks and abundant fine cracks on both sides. Impressions of the wreath from the reverse die have been left on the obverse die, and the vestiges of those clashes are seen around much of the central obverse device. As Breen points out, “part of D of UNITED shows behind cap,” and I of the same word appears just above the cap. On the reverse, two firm outlines of the bust truncation, the lower curls, and the back of Liberty’s cap are seen atop the reverse. A lighter impression of the top of Liberty’s hair is found near the bottom of the wreath and the numerator. The repeated die clashes have caused some faint surface cracks near the ends of the lowest curls and around the date. Two disconnected cracks left of L and under LI are of greater severity. Delicate cracks connect the tops of the letters of UNITED, ATES to O of OF, and the tops of AMERIC. In later states, these cracks unite. A series of faint cracks is seen at the left ribbon end and 20 of the denominator. Some spalling is seen on both sides, subtle and microscopic on the obverse but in a more orderly horizontal formation on the reverse, across the left side of the wreath to beneath HA of HALF. No actual die rust is present. This state is equivalent to Manley’s state 2.0, with no bulge yet visible left of the date. The edge lettering is of the Small Edge Letters type, struck by the more commonly encountered of the two edge dies used on 1794 half cents. The Large Edge Letters varieties of this year, designated with a “b” suffix after the variety numeral, are uniformly very rare and almost always found in low grades. Three distinctive portraits are used on the half cents of 1794. The first, cataloged as Cohen-1, was curiously named the “Gynandroid Head” by Breen. The portrait found on Cohen-2 through Cohen-6 was called the “Normal Head” by Breen, but it has been designated as the “Low Relief Head” by PCGS, a moniker that PCGS uses for the Cohen-1 as well. The “High Relief Head” covers Cohen-7, the very rare Cohen-8, and Cohen-9. Aside from this coin and three other high grade coins offered from the Missouri Cabinet in 2014 – graded by PCGS as MS-65 BN (Cohen-3a) and MS-64+ BN (Cohen-1a and Cohen-5a) – the finest Low Relief Head to appear on the market within the last decade was the Norweb Cohen-4a, offered as a PCGS MS-63 BN in 2011. The only 1794 half cent of any variety offered in a higher certified grade, aside from those found in the once-in-a-lifetime Missouri Cabinet offering, was the NGC MS-65 BN Winsor-Earle 1794 Cohen-9, which traded hands three times between 2006 and 2009 but has not been offered publicly since. There are just two certified MS-66 BN specimens of the 1794 half cent with a “Low Relief Head,” this coin and the Cohen-4a that has been a longtime highlight of the Jim McGuigan Collection. No Low Relief Head 1794 half cent has ever been certified finer. The two High Relief Head 1794 cents certified at higher grades appear in the next two consecutive lots. Published in Penny-Wise beginning in January 1974 and continuing until September 1977, Milton Pfeffer’s remarkably thorough survey of appearances of half cents covered nearly 2,500 auction catalogs found in the library of the American Numismatic Society. He identified just three appearances of specimens of this variety that had been described as Uncirculated in sales earlier than the private sale of the Howard Newcomb half cent collection to Col. E.H.R. Green. One of them was in the legendary June 1924 Alvord sale as lot 22, described as “Uncirculated. Splendid impression with beautiful light brown color. Very rare state.” Sadly, the coin was not among those depicted on the five photographic plates, but it was evidently quite beautiful: lot 22 brought $38.50, more than the prices of the first three 1793s combined and more than the 1796 With Pole. The piece in Thomas Elder’s April 1925 sale (lot 2148) was described similarly, “Uncirculated, light brown. A gem, seldom equalled.” Pfeffer’s other reference is to an April 1923 Elder catalog, but no such sale exists; we have not tracked down the sale he intended. It is possible, given the timing and the language, that all of these references are to the same coin. Without the benefit of photographic plates (or first-person documentation), it will be impossible to prove that this coin is the Alvord specimen, but that seems likely. Newcomb acquired at least one other Alvord coin, a Mint State 1793 C-1 that Newcomb purchased from Henry Chapman after the sale. PCGS# 35036.
