Beyond doubt the most spectacular var[iety] in the series is the 1817 with 15 stars. -Walter Breen, Walter Breens Complete Encyclopedia of U.S and Colonial Coins, 1988Lustrous olive and golden brown hues on the obverse are accented by faint sea foam green around the devices along with highlights of light mottled rose and steel. The reverse is deeper steel brown at the center with subtle violet and blue accents, while an arc of light golden olive encompasses much of the legend. Traces of deeply faded red remain close to some elements.Though well struck, the dies were slightly imperfect in their alignment as is typical for this variety. On this example, the dentils are shallow and weakly defined around the upper half of the obverse, while bold dentils border the lower half. A similar effect is seen on the reverse with the sharpest dentils centered at about 8:00. The die state is still relatively early, corresponding to Noyes State-A/A. However, light flowlines are noted in the peripheral fields and the outer star tips have begun to flatten as the dies have begun to show slight wear. The small cud that later forms over the AM of AMERICA is not present here.The 1817 cent with 15 stars has long been a classic of the middle date series, and though it is not rare, the demand for it has generated strong prices for the finest examples. A case in point may be found in the Henry C. Miller sale of 1917, an offering loaded with superb coppers. The "Unc. Partly red" 15-Star cent brought $16 while the five lots leading up to this one, all Uncirculated 1817 cents, three of which were called "Partly red" to "Bright red" and one with "Proof surface," sold for $8.75, combined.This coin came from the famous holdings of Ted Naftzger, along with his envelope bearing a provenance to Homer K. Downing, whose coins were sold in the 1952 ANA Sale. The Downing coin can be confirmed as the Henry C. Miller coin from the 1917 Thomas Elder sale through comparison of the plates, and it is this chain of ownership that has been applied to this coin in the past. However, this coin does not appear to be the Miller-Downing coin. Beyond various surface markers that do not match, there is a flat spot in the dentils right of star 10 in both plates, which conveniently guarantees that this feature is on the coin and not a photographic flaw. This flatness does not appear on this coin, so it would appear that Mr. Naftzger (or someone studying his coins, as he commonly allowed) mixed up his envelopes. We have not been able to tie this coin to any of the great large cent sales of the past. It is not from Mougey, Earle, Bement, Beckwith, Garrett, Starr, or Halpern, among others examined.Issues of provenance aside, this is one of the very finest examples and the only one graded MS-65 by PCGS. It is listed in the Noyes Census as tied with one other for the CC#2 position, and the other coin is likely a permanent resident in the collection of the American Numismatic Society. When this piece sold in 2009, it commanded five times the published estimate, but that was no anomaly for this popular variety. We had the pleasure of offering another example in 2015 as part of our Twin Leaf Collection sale, Part I. That piece was graded by PCGS one point lower than the Pogue coin, but with enough original red to be called "red brown." The Twin Leaf coin brought even more than this one did in the Naftzger sale, illustrating that the desirability of a superb 15-star has not waned in the least.Large cents have always been one of the most avidly collected series in American numismatics, a tradition that began in the 1850s. Just ten examples of the 1817 15-Star cent have been graded as Mint State by PCGS, which is precious few coins considering the popularity of the series. In the context of the magnificent coins of the Pogue Collection where gem Mint State coins are the norm, it is worthwhile to consider that a coin of this nature is truly outstanding and would be a highlight of nearly any collection.
