The cents struck in June 1809 were quickly vended to waiting banks and businesses, and, by the end of the month, none were to be found at the Mint. - R.W. Julian, "The Large Cents of 1809-11," The Numismatist, November 1994Olive undertones on the dark chocolate brown obverse contrast markedly with the frosty light brown surfaces of the reverse, enriched with pale blue-green highlights around the devices where mint color faded last. The obverse is subtly lustrous, glossy at a glance, but retaining good mint bloom on the heavily flowlined surfaces. The reverse is more traditionally lustrous, with broad swathes of cartwheel and a satiny texture. A band of slightly darker toning crosses the bust truncation, and the upper left reverse is likewise a bit darker than the rest of that side. The obverse is aligned to 8:00, with the nearly absent denticles of the lower left quadrant balanced by long ones in the upper right. The reverse is similarly centered, aligned trivially to the upper left. No significant marks are seen, and the eye appeal is excellent for the grade assigned.All 1809 cents were struck from a single pair of dies, a combination that saw extensive use and fatigue over the course of its life. This is the die state Breen described as Die State VI, with a substantial reverse crack beginning humbly above TE of STATES, forking into two cracks at the base of E; one of the forks continues nearly invisibly to the upper left serif of E in ONE. A raised ridge emerges from star 11 on the obverse, and the fields appear striated from fatigue and from lapping to erase clash marks. Some clash marks remain visible on the reverse, mostly close to the wreath.While this date is difficult to find in a choice state of preservation in any technical grades, pleasing Mint State examples are especially elusive. R.W. Julian suggests that the first delivery of 1809 cents, amounting to 47,367 coins on June 3, was swiftly put into circulation, as their production tapped the Mints supply of fresh planchets until the next supply of copper arrived from England months later. The remaining 1809 cents were not coined until after the shipment from Matthew Robinson Boultons Birmingham firm turned up at the Mint at the end of November. The 175,500 cents delivered on December 31, 1809 represented the vast majority of 1809 cents produced, and every one of them was struck from the same set of dies.Because of this dates relative scarcity, particularly in better condition, it has long been accorded the status of a semi-key among date collectors, trailing rarities like the cents of 1799, 1804, and 1793, but tougher to find than most others. Gems are unknown. PCGS has never graded even a single specimen of this date better than MS-64, nor has the RB color designation ever been offered. This example was used to showcase the shade "medium olive" in the color set illustrated in the 2014 Early American Coppers Grading Guide.
