When Mr. Henry Colvin was alive, I saw his collection and it is indeed a beauty. - Charles F. French to Mrs. Allan D. Colvin, March 24, 1951A surfeit of frost adds warm appeal to exquisitely preserved surfaces. With bountiful cartwheel luster and abundant persisting mint color, this coins position atop the Condition Census of the variety appears insurmountable. The obverse fields have barely faded to variegated pale olive and gold, a colorful contrast to the red that remains around all design elements and within Libertys hair. The reverse is more even, a uniform frosty light brown that still reveals abundant faded mint color. The fields of both sides are nearly immaculate, with two little specks noted behind Libertys head and two trivial nicks in the field near Libertys chin. A glass finds a couple trivial marks and lines along Libertys jaw, but nothing of any significance. The obverse is aligned to 3:00, while the reverse is ideally centered. The right stars are drawn to the rim, indicative of Breens Die State II. Faint vestiges of clashing are seen inside the right side of the wreath. On the obverse, the roughened texture of the die face below and behind Libertys portrait is likely a result of the lapping that rid the obverse die of any remaining clash marks.One of the most spectacular 1808 cents in existence, this coin was unknown to Dr. Sheldon and the other large cent cognoscenti of the early to mid 20th century. Its first auction appearance in 1962 followed at least a generation in the collection of the Colvin family of Troy, New York. The collection was undertaken by Henry C. Colvin, the president of the Troy Savings Bank, sometime before his death in 1936. He joined the American Numismatic Association in 1929, proposed by New Netherlands Coin Company founder Moritz Wormser and listing his interests as "cents, half cents, and fractional currency." His son, also bitten by the bug, joined the ANA in February 1936, listing an address in New London, Connecticut. He acquired the superb coins his father had assembled, and continued to add to them until his death in 1950.A March 28, 1951, letter from Allan Colvins widow to Charles French recounts that "my husband did buy [the collection] from [his fathers] estate, and in his will he left the coin collection to me." French described the elder Colvins collection as "a beauty" in a letter to Mrs. Colvin, noting that her late father-in-laws office at the Troy Savings Bank was "right opposite" Frenchs coin and hobby shop. Mrs. Colvin eventually donated the coins and associated papers to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where both men had served on the board of trustees. Dozens of bid sheets prepared by the junior Colvin between September 1936 and December 1941 are preserved in the Colvin Papers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, including ones sent to Thomas Elder, J.C. Morgenthau & Co., Barney Bluestone, Milferd H. Bolender, and an upstart New York City outfit named Stacks. The Colvin Collection, sold by Frenchs over a period of years, is best remembered today for its 42 different varieties of 1794 cents. The Colvin Mint State Sheldon-21 remains the finest known specimen.The Colvin Sheldon-279, offered here, likewise remains the finest known of the variety. "We think this coin more beautiful than the Moon," Breen wrote of this coin. "It would be rather difficult to imagine a finer one."
