1796 Draped Bust Cent. S-92. Rarity-3+. Reverse of 1795. MS-66 RB (PCGS). Secure Holder.A simply amazing coin that nearly defies belief in a 1796 Draped Bust cent. Both sides retain approximately 40% of the original faded red color that is most intense in the protected areas, close to the devices. Complete and unbroken cartwheel luster is evident on both sides as the coin is rotated under a light. The overall appearance is delightful. Beyond the remaining original red, the surfaces have mellowed to handsome light olive brown. The obverse exhibits minor strike doubling, a loupe revealing two extra, if extremely faint, outlines to Libertys profile from the forehead to the junction of the neck and bust. The strike is quite sharp and nicely centered on the flan. As a result, the strands in Libertys hair are completely defined and every vein in the leaves that comprise the reverse wreath is discernible. In addition, very fine die finishing lines may be seen through the central portrait, a particularly faint detail that would be lost with even light circulation. The obverse border is beveled with no denticulation present, while that on the reverse is flat and sharp. Multiple clash marks are evident on both sides, but no reverse cud has formed at the lower right, a feature that appears in a later state of the dies. The surfaces are expectably smooth for the assigned grade, the only worthwhile provenance marker beyond the superb condition being a faint carbon fleck in the right obverse field before Libertys nose. Breen Die State III.<em>This is the finest 1796 Draped Bust cent from the S-92 dies. It is also the finest of the Reverse of 1795 type. </em>In the 2000 Breen encyclopedia Condition Census, it is given an EAC grade of MS-63. Only one other Mint State example is listed therein, an EAC MS-60 that also originated in Europe. A true wonder coin that would serve as a focal point in the finest Mint State type set or early copper cabinet. In our recent offering of Part V of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, we sold the finest numerically-graded 1796 Draped Bust cent extant, a beautiful Gem example of the Reverse of 1794 type (Sheldon-110), graded MS-66+BN by PCGS. Graded just slightly higher than this one, the appearance is very similar indeed. That one had more even color, with the red just a little less intense than seen here, and the patinated brown just a little less deep. On an estimate of $120,000-$150,000, it generated enthusiastic bidding that resulted in an exceptional realized price of $329,000. It would not surprise us if this piece, as the finest known of the type, achieves a similarly strong price result. We suspect that it will deliver just as much pride of ownership and hours of pleasurable study to its next owner as it did for its current owner over the last two decades. It is undeniably among the highlights of the present sale and among the greatest early American cents.Ex Property of an English collector; Spink Americas sale #8686, June 1997, lot 391; John Whitney Walter; our (Stacks) sale of the John Whitney Walter Collection, May 1999, lot 1723.
